In Nairobi, these Electric Motorcycles are Filling a Transportation Gap—and Slashing Emissions

In Nairobi, these Electric I Motorcycles are Filling a M Transportation Gap—and S Slashing Emissions

B By Adele Peters

Roam Air

If you need a ride in Nairobi, you might hail a “boda boda,” or a motorcycle taxi, rather than get in a car. The streets are fi lled with boda bodas— most of which run on gas, making them a major source of air pollution. But a handful of startups are racing to replace them with electric versions instead.

Roam, a startup based in both Sweden and Kenya, just fi nished a pilot test in Nairobi with 200 of its electric motorcycles, and is now ramping up to make tens of thousands for sale next year. “We’ve seen an opportunity for Kenya to be the test market for the rest of the continent,” says Albin Wilson, chief strategy and marketing offi cer at Roam. “What we think is that basically this part of the world will be leapfrogging local internal combustion engine production.”

Most African consumers don’t own cars now; their fi rst vehicle purchase may be electric, and they may never own one that runs on fossil fuels. A similar pattern played out in other sectors— African countries never built out an extensive network of landlines, as consumers skipped directly to mobile phones, and most Africans skipped credit cards in favor of mobile money. Roam, a fi nalist for the

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i i i t d Prize, started as a research project at a Swedish Pi d h j university, but the team focused on Africa because it realized that greenhouse gas emissions there are on track to quickly grow. Right now, the continent is only responsible for a tiny fraction of global emissions, between 3%–4%. But as more people move to cities like Nairobi and can aff ord to buy more, individual carbon footprints are growing. By 2060, when the continent’s population is projected to grow from 1.3 billion to 3 billion, Africa’s emissions could be as high as those in

the U.S. today. Switching to clean transportation now is key.

The new motorcycle, called the Roam Air, was designed from scratch by a local team for local needs, including the fact that drivers need to be able to carry cargo or passengers and deal with rough roads. “What we’ve seen with the Chinese products is that they’re breaking after even a couple of months of being used here,” Wilson says.

The rugged new design is more like a tool than a Harley; drivers want something utilitarian. It comes with two batteries, so one can be plugged in and charged at home while the other is being used. It can go around 112 miles on a charge. In rural areas without reliable electricity, the batteries can also double as energy storage for charging phones or other devices.

M-Kopa, a Nairobi-based fi ntech platform with two million low-income customers in Africa, will provide fi nancing to help customers buy the $1,500 bikes. Customers can immediately start saving on operational costs; a few months ago, when fuel prices were especially high, Wilson says boda boda drivers doubled their income by being able to charge a battery instead of buying gas. The electric motorcycles also had an advantage in a recent fuel shortage. With a gas bike, “if there’s a fuel shortage, you’re not getting to work,” he says. “You’re not making your income for that day.” (Although blackouts do happen, they’re not common in Kenya’s large cities, Wilson says, and the two-battery system can help cover temporary outages.)

The company also designed an electric bus tailored for the local market, and recently launched a year-long pilot to test it on some of the busiest routes in Nairobi. Both buses and motorcycle taxis are especially important to electrify since they run all day, every day, Wilson says, and the fossil-fueled versions add both to local smog and climate pollution. Around 90% of the electricity produced in Kenya is already clean (nearly half comes from geothermal energy), so there’s little impact from charging.

Several other startups are also developing electric motorcycles for the African market, including Ampersand, a company that launched in Rwanda and later expanded to Kenya. A handful of other startups are based in Nairobi, including Kiri, Ecobodaa, and Stima.

Roam plans to expand throughout Africa and to other parts of the developing world. “I think we have a head start in addressing these markets that are really growing very, very quickly, and that traditional vehicle makers have overlooked,” Wilson says. https://www.fastcompany.com/90805998/innairobi-these-electric-motorcycles-are-fi lling-atransportation-gap-and-slashing-emissions

Image credit: Roam, stimaboda.com, seedstars. com

Stima

KEMET STUDY TOUR AUGUST 1-15, 2023 COST: $4,799.00 Let’s Return To The Nile And Share In The Deep Historical African Re-Membering.

A 15-day group learning experience to “the deep well” of knowledge with Dr. Greg Kimathi Carr & Dr. Mario Beatty.

“Far from being a self-indulgent fi xation on the past, the examination of ancient Egypt is our wisest option if we intend to plan and create our cultural future. The heritage of Greek and Roman antiquity has had a decisive impact on Western culture. Just as profoundly, the heritage of ancient Egypt will help shape the African culture we aspire to rethink and remake.” —Cheikh Anta Diop Find All The Details Here Download the Tour Brochure

KEMET STUDY TOUR OVERVIEW

When: August 1-15, 2023

Where: New York to Cairo

Cost: $4,799 (From New York)

Hosts: Dr. Greg Carr & Dr. Mario Beatty

Highlight: 50 sites over two weeks

Deposit & payment: A deposit of $500.00 per person is required at the time of booking. Final

payment must be made no later than June 1,

2023. Payments received after the deadline date will be subject to $50.00 administrative fee.

DESCRIPTION

The Kemet Study Tour seeks to bring us together from all walks of life to learn about and understand many of the truths embedded in the wisdom of our African ancestors in the Nile Valley and to self-consciously utilize what we know and have learned in order to live meaningful lives and to improve the life of our communities.

Over the course of two weeks, we will visit over 50 sites, including major pyramid complexes, temple complexes, tombs, museums, a major mosque, and a Coptic Church. One of the greatest highlights of our tour occurs at the end where we visit a Nubian village on Elephantine Island and we commune with the community and provide them with a collective voluntary donation of money and school supplies.

A signifi cant part of the intellectual preparation for the tour has already begun on the Knubia platform through the teaching of the Medu Netcher language course by Mario Beatty. These language lessons are archived to view at your leisure and they will tremendously assist you in going to the Nile Valley as a deeply informed visitor. In addition to the language course, we will also provide participants with further detailed readings to support the study of various sites.

After the beginning of the new year in January 2023, we will provide periodic general orientation sessions for participants in order to provide more detailed experiences and advice on traveling to Egypt and to fi eld any questions that may have not been answered or addressed by Consolidated Tours Organization, Inc., the travel agent managing the details of the tour.

It is our hope that this study tour will be a historic convening that both inspires and nourishes all of us from the “deep well” of the best of our African worldview and humanity.

ple of RamessesMeryamun at Abu

Simbel annees-depelerinage.com

nx and Pyramids