In the wake of the increasing fuel costs, the Kenyan government has announced plans to roll out electric motorbikes nationwide.
President William Ruto shared this plan ahead of the upcoming Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
Currently, Kenya has around two million motorbikes, mainly “boda bodas,” which are popular two-wheeled taxis throughout Africa.
In partnership with African startup Spiro, President Ruto announced that the Kenyan government aims to setup 3,000 battery charging and swapping stations in Kenya.
According to him, Spiro already has 350 such stations across Africa and plans to introduce more than one million electric vehicles in the country in the coming months.
Spiro said it has already introduced nearly 10,000 electric bikes in Africa to countries including Benin, Togo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Speaking to the media at the launch ceremony in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa, President Ruto said Kenya currently has 1,000 new e-bikes, and another 10,000 are en route.
“The adoption of electric mobility is a high-priority intervention to address the challenges of pollution, adverse health effects, and fuel costs,” Ruto said.
He added that his government aims to eventually phase out the combustion engine-powered motorbikes, warning that the increasing use of such vehicles across the continent had “serious implications” for climate change and air quality.
According to him, Kenya had the potential by 2030 to generate 100 per cent of its energy from renewable sources such as hydroelectric, geothermal, solar and wind power, from more than 90 per cent now.
