2023-09-01 20:53:06
Kenya to boost nationwide roll-out of electric motorcycle taxis as Uber and Spiro enter the market, part of Kenya’s carbon reduction policy .
“We are committed to strengthening our climate action by adopting efficient and low-carbon transport systems through the application of innovations, including clean, efficient and sustainable energy technologies,” the President of Kenya said on Friday. William Ruto, on the occasion of the launch of the “E-mobility” program, in Mombasa (south-east), in partnership with the African start-up Spiro.
The Kenyan government wants to be at the forefront of energy transition: its objective is for at least 5% of all vehicles registered in the country to be electric by 2030, compared to less than 1% currently for 4.4 million vehicles, according to official figures.
A Spiro employee moves an electric motorcycle during the launch of the ‘E-mobility’ program on September 1, 2023 in Mombasa, Kenya
AFP
The adoption of electric mobility is “high priority to meet the challenges of pollution, adverse health effects and fuel costs”, assured William Ruto.
According to him, around two million motorbikes circulate on the roads of Kenya, most of them being “boda bodas” (motorbike taxi in local slang).
Spiro, which already operates several thousand electric motorcycle taxis in Benin and Togo, intends to expand its activities in Kenya, it announced in a press release on Friday.
It aims to launch “one million electric vehicles” across the country, in partnership with the Kenyan government. The start-up also wants to deploy 3,000 battery charging stations in Kenya.
The company, however, did not give a specific timeline for all these developments.
The day before, Uber had announced the launch of an electric motorcycle taxi service in Nairobi, a first for the American company on the African continent.
The vehicle reservation platform with driver announced in a press release the commissioning of 3,000 electric motorcycle taxis, estimating that this would reduce costs by 30 to 35% for drivers and prices by 15 to 20% for customers, compared to gasoline-powered vehicles.
Uber aims to be “globally carbon neutral by 2040”, said in the press release its director for the Middle East and Africa, Frans Hiemstra.
Electric motorcycles during the launch of the “E-mobility” program, on September 1, 2023 in Mombasa, Kenya
AFP
The ‘boda boda’ sector employs 1.5 million people, mostly young people, and generates 202 billion Kenyan shillings ($1.4 billion) a year for the national economy, World Bank figures quoted show by Uber.
Kenya is hosting the first African climate summit in Nairobi next week with the ambition to find solutions to fight climate change.
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