africa

While the US is still stuck debating EVs, the rest of the world has already plugged in and charged ahead – and nowhere is that more obvious than Africa, where one country has banned ICE vehicles outright and another is rapidly electrifying mines that are digging up the future.

Ethiopia made history in 2024 by becoming the first country to ban the sale and import of new internal combustion-powered vehicles. Despite the predictions of the anti-EV hysterics, they’re doing just fine — but the process hasn’t been without its challenges!

Solar is taking off across Africa in a big way. According to a new analysis of China’s solar panel exports data from energy think tank Ember, solar panel imports into the continent jumped 60% in the 12 months through June 2025, setting a record that could reshape electricity systems in many countries.

An Africa copper mine is taking big steps towards modernizing and decarbonizing its copper mining operations and strengthening its partnerships with Beijing through the purchase and deployment of fully 31 electric haul trucks.

Electric truck startup OX Delivers scored a $163 million multi-year deal to bring its tough, capable, and low-cost electric “trucks-as-a-service” vehicles to East Africa in a bid to bring e-mobility to the global south.

Electric motorcycles are likely not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of BYD, the world’s leading electric car maker. But thanks to a new agreement, the company’s batteries are heading to Africa, where they’ll be used in Ampersand’s electric motorcycles.

Battery swapping for electric motorbikes isn’t new technology, but its adoption rate has proven to be remarkably inconsistent around the world. One of the biggest surprises recently has been one of the places where such technology has grown rapidly: Africa.

Kenya-based electric mobility company ROAM has successfully completed a Series A funding round totaling $24 million in equity and debt to expand local production and further electrify mobility across Africa.

Europe is chugging along slowly but surely in the transition from noisy, polluting combustion engine motorcycles to quiet, efficient electrics. Asia has already made impressive progress, and North America is, well, making an attempt. But Africa could be poised to leap past everyone as several countries adopt ambitious plans to put millions of electric motorcycles on the roads.

The last time we heard from African electric motorcycle startup Spiro, the company was planning to roll out 140,000 e-motos in Uganda. Now Spiro is working to put even more bikes and battery swap stations on the road thanks to new funding.

ROAM – one of Kenya’s leading electric mobility companies – continues to expand its enterprise with new innovations to help electrify Africa’s roads and promote sustainability. Today, the company introduced the ROAM Hub – a multi-purpose electric motorcycle charging station that offers battery swaps, fast chargers, maintenance, and more.

Electric technology company ROAM continues to find success in its native East Africa and is now expanding its production footprint to a new larger facility that’s over 100,000 square feet in size. In the coming years, ROAM intends to bolster is Air electric motorcycle production to fill the new facility’s capacity of 50,000 units per year.

We’ve covered plenty of tax incentives and rebates to make electric motorcycles and other EVs more affordable. But this is the first time we’ve seen a country give out EVs for free as a way to replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

Kenyan technology company Opibus announced it has officially changed its name to ROAM. According to Opibus, the rebrand to ROAM is a better fit for the EV manufacturer’s growth and strategic shift to electrify Africa’s transportation sector and beyond.

EV developer Opibus is once again paving the way for zero-emission transportation in Africa, by unveiling its first electric bus designed and developed upon its own modular EV platform. Alongside other Opibus EVs, the company is one step closer to mass-producing electric buses for the pan-African market and electrifying public transit for the entire continent.

Following a successful pilot program in Africa, Uber and EV developer Opibus have entered into a strategic partnership to promote EV adoption across the continent. As part of the agreement, Opibus will provide 3,000 of its unique electric motorcycles to support Uber’s growing demand for emissions-free drivers across the continent.

With South Africa’s electricity rates set to increase by 9.4% this year and the country’s unstable grid prone to outages, home energy storage systems are expected to become quite popular in the region. Tesla is aware of the opportunity and opened an office in the country earlier this year to develop the market for its ‘Tesla Energy’ products: the Powerwall and Powerpack.

Now we learn though a new report from Bloomberg that Enel Green Power SpA, the renewable energy unit of Italy’s biggest utility, is offering a “home-power kit”, which includes a Tesla Powerwall, to the South African market.
Expand
Expanding
Close