2023-06-14 09:25:56
Large African cities are increasingly relying on buses and electric motorcycles. A means of transport that is both ecological and economical.
The electric bus has become very trendy. The conversion of buses to electric is much faster than that of cars. According to a forecast by the Bloomberg agency, by 2032 half of the world’s bus fleet will run on electricity. It will take ten more years for the car fleet to reach an equivalent level.
In Africa, where the bus represents a quarter of carbon emissions, the conversion started several years ago and is accelerating. The electric bus market estimated at $900 million in 2021 is expected to double by 2028. Last big deal noticed : the one that Lagos recently signed with the Chinese manufacturer Yutong for the supply of 12 000 buses by 2030.
Nairobi in advance
Thanks to local private sector initiatives, Kenya’s capital is at the forefront of the movement. Last year, the start-up Basigo started by buying two buses to the Chinese BYD e-vehicle champion which she then sold or offered in leasing transport companies serving the capital. Then 15 more followed, then 100. The goal is to deploy 1 000 buses on the streets of Nairobi by 2025. They are manufactured in China and then assembled in Kenya on their arrival in the port of Mombassa.
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Another start-up already renowned in the urban mobility sector, Roam, resulting from a partnership between Swedes and Kenyans, has designed buses specially adapted to the needs of the city. A hundred will be delivered this year. For Kenya, which imports almost all of its fuel and produces almost all of its electricity with renewable energies, the economic gain is obvious. This conversion is also a huge step forward in terms of public health and well-being for a city still totally asphyxiated by the engines of internal combustion vehicles.
Decarbonization
The novelty compared to thermal is also that the buses are assembled on site. This is what we see in Kenya and this is what will also be done in Nigeria with Yutong. Decarbonization is becoming a vector of industrialization. This is true for the bus but also for the motorcycle. A very popular means of transport in African capitals. motorcycle taxisTHE zemidjan from Cotonou to Lomé, the wedding wedding in Nairobi are part of the landscape, of the urban culture. Ideal to avoid traffic jams and at the same time a valuable livelihood for their drivers. With a major drawback : they are big polluters, harmful to the planet and the health of city dwellers.
Electric motorcycles
Kenyan Roam also has a significant development program for electric motorcycles,ith a factory that builds models locally that rival in price with conventional motorcycles imported from China or India. His factory plans to produce 50,000 a year. In West Africa, it was Spiro, ex-Mauto, who paved the way in Cotonou by offering motorcycles and batteries in the Beninese capital. The company was created by Shegun Bakari, who recently became his country’s foreign minister. To his credit, a big contract signed with Uganda. The agreement signed in the spring with President Museveni provides for the supply of 140 000 electric two-wheelers by 2025. The factory created for this purpose should eventually assemble 25 000 motorcycles per year. The Ugandan government’s boost for the deployment of battery stations should facilitate the large-scale conversion of the current fleet of motorcycle taxis.
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