dyton mupawaenda
AFRICA’S electric vehicle (EV) market is accelerating. But so far, one particular group of potential users — rural women — has largely been left behind, with investors favouring electric motorbike start-ups that serve a predominantly urban and male clientele.
One company thinks it has the answer: electric tricycles.
“The boys with the two-wheelers get all the money,” said Shantha Bloemen, founder of Mobility for Africa, a Zimbabwean start-up with a 77 percent female customer base and one of a handful of EV companies in Africa operating solely in rural areas.
Bloemen exclusively supplies tricycles, generally preferred by female riders in rural areas due to their non-straddling seat and greater stability on uneven roads.
“Three-wheelers mean you’re inclusive of women,” she said.
Bloemen sees tricycles as the key to unlocking for rural women the potential of Africa’s EV market, which is expected to grow to US$28,3 billion by 2030, according to data from Mordor Intelligence.
She wants the continent to follow in the footsteps of Asia-Pacific, where tricycles are popular.
“I want to be everywhere,” she said.
“I want to be the queen of tricycles.”
For her customers, the vehicles, designed to cope with the unsurfaced roads, are transformative.
“It has changed (our) way of life,” said Beauty Simango (33), a resident of Hauna and, since May last year, one of more than 300 people to lease or buy an electric tricycle from Mobility for Africa.
Simango no longer spends hours each day walking to fetch water or deliver crops to the market.
By transporting goods and running a taxi service, her weekly income has increased from US$30 to US$150, although she now pays US$65 towards her lease and regular battery swapping.
Within 12 months, she will have paid off the price of the vehicle (US$2 340). With her weekly profit, Simango pays her children’s school fees and funds farming projects.
“It has helped our self-esteem as women,” she added.
The new electric-powered motorcycle is helping to improve the livelihoods of rural women and easing the burden of looking after families.
The three-wheelers, powered by a solar-charged lithium ion battery, are being piloted by Mobility for Africa, which leases the motorcycle to women in groups of up to five.
The women use the three wheelers to carry farm produce to markets further away from homes, to offer transportation services to villagers and for domestic chores.
But Mobility for Africa has struggled with a lack of investment. While Bloemen has raised a total of
US$6 million since 2019, half of which is from grants, including US$380 000 from the Toyota Mobility Foundation, companies selling motorbikes in cities have been far more successful.
Ampersand in Rwanda, whose clientele is, according to CEO Josh Whale, “overwhelmingly” male, raised over US$21 million in a single year ending in August 2024. Spiro, the giant of the sector, has tens of millions of dollars in financing.
Most EV companies are focused on urban areas due to greater population density, said Tom Courtright, research director at the Africa E-Mobility Alliance think tank.
Currently, most electric bikes and trikes must regularly swap their batteries at purpose-built facilities (Mobility for Africa currently has six such facilities) — but the cost of building and running these facilities can deter investors in areas with low populations. Currently, Courtright said, “urban areas are a better bet.”
For now, women in rural Africa must wait for the EV revolution to reach them. “Things are definitely moving in that direction,” said Ampersand’s Whale, “it’s just that the low hanging fruit is in the cities.”
E-mobility is fast emerging as a solution to help Zimbabwe and most other African countries combat air pollution and reduce carbon emissions.
Zimbabwe is actively promoting electric vehicle (EV) adoption with measures like reducing import duties and investing in charging infrastructure.
The government is also encouraging local EV assembly and aiming for a significant market share of EVs by 2030.
Additionally, Zimbabwe’s abundant lithium resources position it as a potential hub for EV production and the green economy.
Zimbabwe is Africa’s biggest producer of lithium and has attracted more than US$1 billion of investment in lithium projects since 2021. — CNN/Herald
Online Reporter