Rwanda's electric mobility revolution picking up speed

Switch TV

Transcript

00:00On the streets of Kigali, the familiar roar of engines is slowly being replaced by a quiet

00:10harmony.

00:11Rwanda's shift to electric mobility, once a bold experiment is now shaping into a national

00:17movement.

00:18Here at Kakababe, an official dealer for Chinese EV brands like Dongfeng, sales are

00:22climbing fast.

00:24The company plans to sell up to 150 electric cars a year, on top of its growing EV taxi

00:30fleet.

00:31So we have two parts of the business, taxi business we have around, so far in less than one year

00:38we have almost 30 units of taxi cabs, pure EV.

00:45So you know that we are doing transport into environment friendly vehicles.

00:56As right now we have 30 units, we are planning to have 300, maybe 300 units to do the taxi

01:05business.

01:07Another thing is that in terms of sales, to get the selling vehicles more than the ICE

01:15vehicles, we are planning to sell at least 150 units per year.

01:22From compact sedans to city buses, customers are discovering that electric isn't just cleaner,

01:28it is also more affordable in the long run.

01:30The biggest visible change is happening here, among Rwanda's e-moto taxi riders.

01:35Thousands now zip through the capital on electric motorcycles, powered by locally made swappable

01:41batteries.

01:42E-mobility companies are setting up in Rwanda to replace internal combustion engine motorcycles.

01:48One of the leading firms, Spiro, operates across several African countries, including Rwanda.

01:54Depending on demand, they assemble between 300 to 500 bikes a day here.

01:59The electric motorbike and battery swapping company recently raised 100 million US dollars,

02:04with 75 million US dollars coming from Afrexin Bank's impact investment arm.

02:09The government has also banned the registration of new ICE motor taxis in Kigedi.

02:14The future looks electric.

02:15Just to give you a context, for anyone who's riding an EV bike, only fuel compared to the

02:21battery that they swap, they save up to 30%.

02:24Plus, if I add another dimension to that is the after sales as well.

02:29The parts for an EV bike are very less as compared to an ICE bike.

02:32So they save another 15-20% over there.

02:35So on an average, if you see, anyone who's transforming from an ICE bike to an EV bike, ends up saving

02:40anything between 35-40% every day.

02:43The future of the EV industry is, yes, we are going to save people's money.

02:48Where you can commute from here to Uganda, and then you pay like 20,000.

02:52Where usually you pay around 200,000.

02:56So we are saving people's money, and we are saving environment.

03:00That's the future.

03:01In a county where 60% of households is connected to national grid, and 30% is off grid, infrastructure

03:08still remains a challenge, especially outside the capital, Kigedi.

03:12Experts said that Rwanda has built strong green policy momentum, but the ecosystem should be

03:17followed by deeper investment in charging stations, financing options, and grid stability.

03:23Major focus, if you see, of e-mobility is the network infrastructure.

03:28And that is where this funding will be crucial for Spiro's growth, not only in Rwanda, but

03:34all the countries that we are operating, plus the expansion that we are doing.

03:38Government incentives from tax exemptions on EVs to pilot charging networks are driving investor

03:43interest.

03:44Importers and experts say regulation is evolving to make Rwanda one of Africa's most attractive

03:50EV market.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended