As more and more companies, across the world are switching over to electric vehicles, African continent is seemingly way behind its peers. The reason is simple, the high cost f manufacturing e-vehicles and the ignorance of the common man to understand the advantages of the e-vehicle in the context of reducing pollution. Yet, there are some discerning changes observed now in some parts of vast continent, particularly, Rwanda. Following the introduction of a national e-mobility policy and a call from President Paul Kagame to speed up the process, manufacturers are becoming more enthusiastic about the potential of the vehicle and how they can become a stakeholder. In Rwanda, there is an electric vehicle company –Ampersand-which has been in the e-mobility market for some years. Now the company is helping Rwanda to replace gas driven motorbikes to electric motorcycles. In a pilot program, the company produced 10 e-bikes for tests and further improvisation.
The aim is to make the e-bikes better and cheaper than the petrol motorcycles that are available on the road in Rwanda in plenty to get the acceptance of the general public. For this, Ampersand is seeking government support to make thm affordable and at the same time a viable business proposition. It has set itself a target to manufacture 3 million electric motorcycles to be sold in the East African region. Rwanda claims that it has the capacity to produce the targeted vehicles and what holds back is the finance.
There is a cool calculation behind the company’s target of reaching three million e-motor bikes. Over three million East Africans are dependent on plying motor cycle taxis for their living. Once a price competitive and efficient e-bike is created, it can capture markets all across Africa and not necessarily in East Africa. Also, Rwanda can maintain its lead as the most innovative country in the continent, which can help channelize a lot of investments to this sector.
It is estimated that the cost of buying an electric motorcycle ranges from US$ 1,330 and nUS$1,600. With better R&D, the company hopes that the cost can be brought down considerably. There are well conceived R&D experiments being conducted in countries like the US, China and India to bring down the cost of storage in an electric vehicle and there are reports that a breakthrough is expected very soon. Rwanda, in that case, need not have to re-invent the wheel.
The other spin off of electric vehicles is the reduction in pollution. A research conducted in 2012 in Rwanda found that 2,227 deaths had resulted from air pollution and poor quality of air has also increased respiratory diseases. From 2015, Rwanda passed laws in accordance with the 2011 East Africa Community (EAC) decision to import only low sulphur fuel (cleaner fuel) to avoid sulphur oxides, which cause respiratory diseases.
