Rwanda’s Ampersand partners BYD to tap Africa's $5bn motorcycle market
TLDR
- Ampersand partners with BYD to advance electric motorbike development in Africa, aiming to decarbonize the commercial motorbike transport sector.
- Collaboration involves procuring batteries from BYD to produce 40,000 electric motorcycles by 2026.
- Initiative aims to transition a substantial portion of Africa's petrol-fueled commercial motorbikes to electric power, leveraging Ampersand's charging network expansion.
Kigali-based electric vehicle (EV) energy tech company, Ampersand, has agreed with Chinese EV manufacturer, BYD, to transition a significant portion of Africa’s 30 million commercial motorbikes, fueled by petrol, to electric power.
Both parties will work to decarbonize Africa’s commercial motorbike transport sector. Ampersand will procure batteries from BYD to manufacture around 40,000 electric motorcycles by the end of 2026 as part of the agreement.
Ampersand, known for operating the largest charging network in Rwanda and Kenya, plans to use this partnership to expand its charging infrastructure to support the growing electric motorbike fleet.
Key Takeaways
Due to favorable government policies, Rwanda and Kenya have emerged as prime destinations for EVs. Rwanda imposes no import duties on electric cars and motorbikes, while its e-mobility policy allows companies to establish charging stations rent-free. Recently, Spiro, an Indian EV company, secured $50 million to ramp up production and deployment of electric motorbikes in Rwanda. In Kenya, the first draft of the National E-mobility Policy was unveiled in April, promoting local battery manufacturing, recycling, and the production of EV components such as charging systems. These policies have spurred investment from companies like BasiGo, Roam, and Ampersand to expand their EV production capacities. Ampersand, for instance, aims to capture a significant share of Africa's electric motorcycle market. Revenue from Africa's motorcycle market is projected to reach $4.87 billion by the end of 2024.
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