T R A N S P O R T A N D M O B I L I T Y

Electric Mobility: Benefits for rural Africa

AUTHOR: David Jarrett Editor@ RDJ Publishing and RDJ Group ChiefExecutiveOfficer

Awithin14kilometers within47kilometers frica’s population is primarily rural and rural transport is considered an enabler that allows these rural communities to interact in the wider morethan100kilometers creating higher cost of operation and resultant tariffs. These higher operating costs either drive away investments or increases poverty possibility for these communities.

Looking at the matter from a fuel perspective, in a similar mannertothelackofinfrastructure,thereisalsoalackof fuelling or refuelling facilities Fuel suppliers will invariably charge more for fuel supplies and based on utilisation rates, economy of scale drives prices upwards the further away from urban centres that the fuel is required Therefore, petrol and diesel supplies will need to be transported to delivery points and stored until required This leads in most cases to erratic supplies or non-availabilityoffuelscreatingitsownchallenges economic activities This can occur through simpler actions such as just allowing rural residents to visit health facilities or more economically advanced, through transport of goods such as produce to markets and customers. Thus, transport allows access to services that in a rural setting are precious due to their unavailability or scarcity component.

Infrastructure in rural communities of developing countries thus are generally in need of upgrades or even more astute, totally absent This impacts rural transport systems as it increases wear and tear on vehicles,

Rural transport is composed differently from urbanized transport systems due in part to the infrastructure available and its conditions, noting that these also change with the seasons, being muddy and in some cases impassable during the rainy season Another factor for consideration is that rural transport generally has a higher level of individual ownership and very limited public transport options as well as emergency vehicles (excluding Fire). This makes sense as public transport has the feature of being scheduled, focusing on peak travel times such as with buses and also affects fuelling arrangements

Enter e-mobility

When research is considered on rural transport, the type of fuel is generally NOT a consideration We feel this is a mistake as in the era of sustainable development and climate change, alternative fuel needs consideration It is well accepted that many countries provide fuel subsidies and in other cases have set up subsidised fuelling points/depots to increase access and so e-mobility could be a solution.

While electricity is also a challenge for rural communities, the advent of renewable energies provides new opportunities for energy security and self-sufficiency for these communities and e-mobility (EVs) is one of those alternatives. Electricity offers the ability to stabilise transport costs from a fuel perspective especially in light of fossil fuel pricing volatility

An example of this, is captured by the Siemens WeTu emobility approach that seeks to support the daily use of electric vehicles in rural settings This testing includes the roll out of charging stations supported by the Global LEAP Fund and other partners such as USAID and DFID. The model includes the rental of batteries, issued at charging stations It is also not unheard of for rural communities that struggle with transport issues while already being electrified showing that e-mobility could play the role of aproductiveusemeasure

One of the constraints of EV’s is the issue of range being currently limited dependent on vehicle type and manufacturer specification, ranging from 100 km (60 miles) to around 450 km (300 miles) If the Statista data findings are taken into account, a round trip or more using EVs could be achieved for more than 90% of Africa’s rural populations. This would amount to transport and fuel access for some 600 – 700 million people in Africa. Canweaffordnottoconsiderthis?

I guess you understand by now that the RDJ Group has fully embraced the pros and cons of electric mobility (emobility / EV) and share the view of the World Bank that EVs cannot single-handedly solve all transport challenges in developing countries but as our teacher’s always say (the good ones that is), “there is always more to learn or discuss” As always, the conversations continue esa@rdjpubishing.africa

Readings: https://www ruralhealthinfo org/toolkits/transportation/1/use-inrural https://www ilo org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed emp/--emp policy/---invest/documents/publication/wcms asist 6890.pdf https://www unescap org/sites/default/d8files/bulletin71 Article3 pdf https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/developing-countries-emobility-revolution-closer-you-might-think https://www siemens-stiftung org/en/projects/wetu/wemobility/ https://www.ssatp.org/publication/provision-rural-transportservices https://www gtkp com/themepage/gtkp-archives/ruraltransport/rural-transport-overview/