E-MOBILITY SOLUTIONS FOR RURAL SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
What’s next?
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By 2050, the number of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double, accounting for more than half of the world’s total population growth.³⁶ As demonstrated, without a shift to low or zero emission vehicles, the strong vehicle fleet growth will lead to a massive increase of air pollution, a massive increase of expenditures for oil imports and a massive increase of greenhouse gas emissions. Large-scale investment in renewable energy production is needed in order to develop the required infrastructure and smart-grid integration, training and capacity building for a clean energy future which could promote green growth across the African continent. Electrifying motorcycle taxis, minibuses and public transport in general will have one of the greatest impacts as these represent a higher volume of miles travelled. To keep pace with the growing demand and to
address range-anxiety issues, adequate charging infrastructure is needed. However, EV technology remains very expensive and most parts are still imported from South East Asia with little customization to the African market demands. Correspondingly, major barriers to large-scale investment in manufacturing business models include unfinished supply chains and missing local technical skills sets as well as infrastructure. There is also the environmental issue of battery manufacture and disposal, which has become more challenging in the region due to relatively informal waste management systems. Rapid EV adoption requires strong enabling policies, including tax incentives and subsidies, which is tricky given many competing priorities for limited government funding in Sub-Saharan Africa. Against this background, successful
