As oil prices soar and governments crack down on combustion engines to curb global warming, there are growing opportunities for the installation of electric car charging stations in South Africa, Morocco and Kenya.
Mordor Intelligence, a market intelligence & advisory firm has projected a ‘substantial’ year-on-year growth in the adoption rate of electric vehicles in Africa on a growing focus of the governments across the region wishing to promote the use of electric vehicles and increased awareness about energy storage solutions in the renewable-based power sector.
The research firm expects many countries in Africa to make large investments in EV power capacity in the next decade.
Countries in the region “are in urgent need of alternative energy sources for transport to stave off the growing burden of fuel dependency and subsidies, as well as an electricity storage solution to leverage their abundant renewable energy resources,” said Modor Intelligence, in its forecast for 2022-2027.
According to research company Statista, South Africa, the most advanced e-mobility market in Africa, had about 1,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in January 2022 out of a total fleet of 12 million automobiles, while the number of EVs was estimated at 350 in Kenya out of some 2.2 million registered vehicles in the country.
“Electric mobility is still in development in Africa. Battery electric vehicles’ sales on the continent have overall increased in recent years, although have remained the lowest worldwide,” says Statista.
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In Africa’s biggest economy, Stallion Motors broke the jinx that Electric cars cannot be built or even survive in Nigeria when they launched first-ever Nigeria-made Electric car named Hyundai-Kona in November, last year.
Similarly, Jet Motors Nigeria, founded in 2017, is a Nigerian automobile manufacturer that designs and builds electric vehicles for African roads. After about three years of research, testing and iterative development, some of the earliest outputs of the company’s effort are the JET EV, Africa’s first-ever electric car and the JET MOVER.
Data Bridge researchers in their Middle East and Africa Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Market forecast to 2029 also predicts more and more people are inclining toward electric vehicles with the growing awareness regarding environmental issues globally
Over the 2022-2029 period, the research firm projects the market to grow from a valuation of $129.85 million in 2021 to $9.39 billion.
In Uganda, electric mobility start-up Zembo is installing four solar and hybrid charging stations along the Kamapala-Masaka axis.
The installations will allow electric motorbike drivers to increase their daily income and contribute to improving air quality in the East African country.
In Morroco, electrical transportation specialist, Afrimobility is pursuing an ambitious growth strategy by developing the first 100% Moroccan fast-charging station (from 60kW to 100kW), in collaboration with the Institute for Research in Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN).
“(We wanted) to be the first to invest in this branch to create a comprehensive dynamic and encourage all actors in the system to follow our lead and establish a wide network of charging stations throughout the national territory,” said Mowali Hafid El Amrani, CEO of Afrimobility.
