African first: Uber launches electric motorcycle taxis in Kenya, cutting costs and fares

Uber has announced the launch of electric motorcycle taxis in Nairobi, Kenya, which is a first for the company in Africa.

• Uber
  has launched electric motorcycle taxis in Nairobi, Kenya, with 3 000 bikes
  initially planned.
• The
  Kenyan government is preparing to roll out electric vehicles across the country
  as part of a green mobility scheme.
• African
  startup Spiro has partnered with the government to introduce over one million
  electric vehicles in Kenya.

Uber
has announced the launch of electric motorcyle taxis in the Kenyan capital
Nairobi in what it says is a first for the company in Africa.

The
move by the US app-based taxi service comes as the Kenyan government prepares
to roll out electric vehicles across the country as part of a green mobility
scheme.

Uber
announced the introduction of the Electric Boda in Kenya on Thursday, with about
3 000 bikes planned initially, saying it would cut running costs for drivers by
30-35 percent and reduce fares by about 15-20 percent.

The
vehicles are two-wheelers, with a place for a driver and a passenger, and
instead of a petrol-powered engine are driven by an electric engine supplied by
a battery.

“This
launch also supports our global efforts to become a zero-emissions platform by
2040,” Frans Hiemstra, Uber’s regional general manager for the Middle East
and Africa, said in a statement.

According
to the World Bank, the boda boda (motorcycle taxi) sector in Kenya employs over
1.5 million young people and contributes about 202 billion Kenyan shillings
($1.4 billion) to the economy each year, the Uber statement said.

Kenya’s
government says it is aiming for five percent of all registered vehicles in the
East African country to be electric-powered by 2030.

Currently,
the number of registered electric vehicles (EVs) is low, accounting for less
than one per cent of the total 4.4 million registered vehicles, according to
government figures.

Meanwhile,
African startup Spiro said it has reached a partnership with the Kenyan
government to roll out more than one million electric vehicles throughout the
country.

Trade
Minister Moses Kuria said the launch would take place later Friday in the
Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa.

Spiro
said in a statement it has already introduced nearly 10 000 electric bikes to
countries such as Benin, Togo, Rwanda, and Uganda.

The
company also said it plans to set up 3 000 battery charging and swapping
stations in Kenya, in addition to 350 already across Africa, and establish a
manufacturing base in the country. It gave no indication of the timeframe.

Kenyan
President William Ruto, who has positioned himself at the forefront of African
efforts to combat climate change, is hosting the first-ever Africa Climate
Summit in Nairobi next week.

Kenya
generates most of its energy from renewable sources such as hydro-electric and
geothermal power.

WATCH | Bolt Lite driver preaches the gospel from behind the wheel

But
the country suffers from frequent power cuts.

A
massive outage last weekend left several regions without electricity for hours,
including Nairobi and its international airport, which was plunged into
darkness after a generator serving the main terminals failed to work.

Fuel
prices at the pump have recently soared to their highest levels in more than a
decade, adding to the economic hardship of Kenyans suffering from a cost-of-living
crisis and a raft of new taxes.