Iran war supercharges electric vehicle uptake in Africa

{"text":[[{"start":7.1,"text":"The global energy crisis sparked by war in the Middle East has supercharged African demand for electric vehicles, delivering a boost for China which dominates the market."}],[{"start":18.4,"text":"A surge in orders for electric motorbikes and buses assembled in numerous African countries using Chinese components has coincided with record fundraising by start-ups rolling out EV infrastructure worth around $300mn since last month. "}],[{"start":32.95,"text":"Spiro, a Dubai-headquartered electric motorbike and battery-swapping company with the largest footprint across Africa, will on Monday announce $55mn in funding from New Trails Capital, a Chinese emerging markets and Belt and Road fund. Spiro already raised $215mn from Danish and Dubai-based funds last month."}],[{"start":55.35,"text":"East Africa leads the continent’s EV usage, which was already increasing before Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas previously flowed. "}],[{"start":67.55,"text":"But the economics at a micro-level in Africa, where motorbike taxis and three-wheel “tuk-tuks” are ubiquitous, have become more compelling since the closure. "}],[{"start":77.89999999999999,"text":"Average daily petrol costs for a moto-taxi have risen more than 20 per cent from $4.20 a day to $5.10 since the war, according to Brian Njao, who runs e-mobility lending for M-Kopa, a London-headquartered fintech platform that operates in Africa. “Electric can do the same distance for $2.30,” he said, adding that the waiting list for e-motorbike financing was so long “we have stopped taking any deposits”."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":105.89999999999999,"text":"The numbers are equally compelling at a macro level as governments seek to offset huge fuel import and subsidy bills and reduce reliance on oil supplies from the Gulf."}],[{"start":116.05,"text":"“Nothing has paid the Trump tax more than diesel in this part of the world,” said James Irungu Mwangi, chief executive of venture capital fund Africa Climate Ventures, pointing to a 30 per cent rise in pump prices in Kenya this year."}],[{"start":130.1,"text":"Mwangi said there had been an assumption that EV adoption in Africa would follow the old pattern of second-hand imports from Europe and Asia. This had changed, he said, because EVs made in China and motorbikes assembled in Africa with Chinese parts were now rolling off the factory floor at competitive prices, providing the continent with an opportunity to leapfrog technologies."}],[{"start":154.29999999999998,"text":"“A more relevant comparison is what happened with mobile phones,” Mwangi added."}],[{"start":158.99999999999997,"text":"Kenya now plans to waive import duties on electric vehicles."}],[{"start":163.09999999999997,"text":"Ethiopia, which generates more than 90 per cent of its electricity from hydropower, banned the import of internal combustion engine vehicles in 2024. It now has more than 115,000 EVs on its roads, according to the Ethiopian transport ministry. "}],[{"start":180.59999999999997,"text":"Rwanda also banned the registration of new combustion engine moto-taxis in its capital Kigali from January 2025, driving a 28 per cent increase in EV sales last year."}],[{"start":192.09999999999997,"text":"While adoption of electric motorbikes has moved ahead of cars, electric vehicle uptake is also rising. Africa’s electric car sales rose to about 25,000 units in 2025 from 4,000 in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency. Chinese carmaker BYD accounted for 35 per cent of EVs sold in Africa in 2025."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":217.19999999999996,"text":"A major charging backbone for electric trucks in east Africa is also in the works by Kenya and Rwanda-based EV start-up Kabisa. The company is building the infrastructure across three trade corridors in east Africa and plans to have charging stations for 1,000 trucks on each of four more corridors, requiring $2.1bn in investment overall."}],[{"start":237.79999999999995,"text":"Co-founder Nick Hu said the cost of electric trucks over a five-year lifespan, when fuel savings are accounted for, was 20 to 40 per cent less than for combustion engines, depending on incentives offered. “What seemed like a decent proposition became a no-brainer,” he added."}],[{"start":253.89999999999995,"text":"Oscar Rosana, who runs Metrotrans — which has a fleet of 400 “matatu” buses in Kenya — said the energy shock from the war had shifted the argument firmly in favour of EVs, even if the initial outlay remained prohibitive for smaller players. "}],[{"start":268.69999999999993,"text":"Higher financing costs for electric buses were balanced by cheaper energy and maintenance, Rosana said, predicting that big diesel consumers in haulage would start to make the change once charging backbones were built out."}],[{"start":281.8499999999999,"text":"He said of the 1,200km of road linking the Kenyan coast to Uganda: “Whoever sets up charging infrastructure or battery swapping is going to make a lot of money.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":292.5499999999999,"text":"People in the sector do not expect the ceasefire deal between the US and Iran to stall momentum. "}],[{"start":298.9999999999999,"text":"“It’s arguable that [Donald] Trump will inadvertently do more to accelerate the EV transition than any other US president,” said Dustin Kahler, an industry veteran on the board of the e-mobility association of Kenya."}],[{"start":311.4499999999999,"text":"The biggest obstacle to accelerating uptake remains the capital required and narrowing margins for investors as competition intensifies.  "}],[{"start":319.9999999999999,"text":"Electric battery and e-motorbike provider ARC Ride, which is headquartered in Kenya, is raising tens of millions of dollars, including from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. This month it entered a partnership with Yadea, the leading Chinese manufacturer of electric motorbikes, to build out battery-swapping infrastructure that will be interoperable with its own two-wheelers, which have sold out since the war."}],[{"start":344.64999999999986,"text":"“Hormuz has created an opportunity for China to [further] dominate the African EV market,” said the company’s chief executive Joseph Hurst-Croft. "}],[{"start":353.59999999999985,"text":"It has also provided a potential boost to manufacturing on the continent. Spiro, which is present in seven African countries where, like Arc-Ride, it assembles its own vehicles, is planning a major expansion into new markets with the funds it has raised. "}],[{"start":368.14999999999986,"text":"The company sold 10,000 electric motorbikes on the continent last month and is targeting 1mn sales in 2027. Indian industrialist and Spiro founder, Gagan Gupta, said by next year the company would be manufacturing vehicles across several hubs in Africa, with 90 per cent of materials sourced locally. "}],[{"start":386.89999999999986,"text":"“Global capacity plants” would move to Nigeria and Kenya to manufacture lithium-ion batteries now mostly made in China, he said. “What you will see is African resources transformed in Africa at massive scale.” "}],[{"start":401.2499999999999,"text":"Additional reporting by Kana Inagaki"}],[{"start":411.0999999999999,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782119149_7398.mp3"}