If approved, the policy will enforce zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales targets and investment criteria for car manufacturers and assemblers to qualify for government incentives. The policy will also establish clear requirements for local content (using locally sourced materials) in EVs that will be implemented gradually. The policy will further facilitate the production of EV components and support local battery manufacturing, recycling, and repurposing efforts.

At the launch of the draft policies, Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya’s transportation cabinet secretary, noted that “the shift to electric vehicles significantly cuts emissions of greenhouse gases while reducing the petroleum import bill, currently standing at KES 628.4 billion ($4.8 billion). It will also promote local manufacturing and create jobs.”

To further promote EVs, Kenya has started issuing green-coloured number plates. The initiative aims to “raise awareness about EVs among the general public and encourage more people to consider switching to e-mobility,” Murkomen added.

The policy, launched in collaboration with the trade and investment ministry, will glean from the expertise of the private sector, international investors, and academic institutions to build the necessary EV infrastructure.

Kenya is a key player in African e-mobility, attracting prominent EV manufacturers. BasiGo, an electric bus company backed by the CFAO Group, is one of the pioneers of e-mobility in the country. The company’s electric buses serve Nairobi residents as commuter vehicles, popularly referred to as matatu. ROAM Motors, is also introducing electric buses for Nairobi’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system, but is currently offering electric motorbikes nationwide.

Ride-hailing companies have also joined the e-mobility movement in Kenya. In 2023, Uber partnered with Greenwheels Africa for electric motorbike rentals. Likewise, Bolt has invested over KES 100 million ($770,000) to integrate e-mobility solutions into its services.

According to Roam, the partnership also increases the transition to electric motorcycles from traditional motorcycles. Motorcycle riders, popularly known as boda boda riders, are expected to increase their daily earnings by 30%. 

Roam told TechCabal that it is the largest provider of electric motorcycles putting out the largest volumes in Nairobi targeting boda boda riders and B2B providers. For riders participating in the deal, Mogo will offer financing at a rate of KES 25,000 deposit, and a daily repayment of KES 682 for 24 months. The package includes a motorcycle, battery, charger, and two helmets and vests.

“At Roam, our mission is clear, we want to provide the best and most affordable electric motorcycle to the market and Mogo is a great partner in accelerating that mission,” said Mikael Gånge, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Roam.

Kenya boasts of about 3 million boda-boda riders according to James Macharia, the minister of transport. The United Nations also estimates that about 5 million Kenyans get their income from riding motorcycles. However, the Kenyan government is keen on converting most of the fuel-based motorcycles to electric.

President William Ruto had on September 1, 2023, launched a national e-mobility programme which has three-wheeled tuk-tuks, or auto rickshaws the focal point of a transition to green transportation. Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) plans to convert 2-3 million boda bodas to being electric by 2030.  

Raul Leitis, business development project manager at Mogo said the deal with Roam will go beyond Kenya to the rest of the continent and electric motorcycles will surpass fuel motorcycles in no distant time. 

“We see that the electric motorcycle market is ever expanding and with Roam’s innovative products that enable customers to not only charge at home but also at the Roam Hubs, we believe the electric motorcycle market will eventually become larger than the petrol one,” Leitis said. 

The Estonian ride-hailing giant will hope to win with its pricing strategy. It will waive drivers its standard 15% commission for drivers (Uber and Careem charge 22-33%) and give riders 50% off their trips for the next six months. Bolt absorbs the discounts it gives customers and pays drivers the total amount earned during a trip. 

“Egypt is an important market for our entry beyond merely boosting driver revenues; we aim to ignite demand through competitive pricing,” said Haitham Mansour, Bolt Egypt Country Manager.  “By keeping our commissions substantially lower than our counterparts, we ensure drivers earn more while presenting customers with appealing service fees.”

Bolt’s entry into Egypt marks its 15th African market, following an expansion spree over the last few months. During this time, it has primarily focused on the Southern Africa market after entering Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana, and waived driver commission in those markets for six months. 

Uber is currently the most popular ride-hailing app in Cairo but is considered pricey. Careem is similar in price but offers occasional discounts. inDriver and DiDi are newer, vying for the budget-conscious market with offers and discounts.

In February 2023, Bolt committed to investing more than $500 million in Africa by the end of 2024. This investment aimed to expand Bolt’s services across the continent and create job opportunities. 

The company is also in the process of addressing a crisis with some of its drivers in select markets who accuse the company of using underhand tactics that reduce their income.

In 2021, Nigerian mobility startup Metro Africa Xpress (MAX) became Africa’s most-funded startup in the electric vehicle (EV) space after netting a $31 million round to expand into Ghana and Egypt. 

In 2023, Nigerian mobility startup Moove more than doubled that, netting $76 million in funding for its global expansion. 

Now, Uber is reportedly looking to back Moove with an additional $100 million in a new funding round. According to a Bloomberg report, that would boost Moove’s valuation from $650 million to $750 million and take it closer to becoming a mobility unicorn (a startup with a value of over $1 billion).

So far in 2024, a $24 million in funding clinched by Kenya-based electric mobility standout Roam is the largest funding round in the sector.

The funding is a blend of $14 million in equity and $10 million in debt, from the prestigious US government’s Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Roam said it will leverage the new funding to expand its production of locally designed and manufactured electric motorcycles and buses.

“As Africa embraces the move toward electric vehicle technology, we are proud of our impact on the environment and livelihoods across Kenya and the wider continent. This funding is a critical step for Roam to achieve our strategic objectives in scaling up and increasing utility to our customers,” said Roam’s Chief Finance Officer, Rajal Upadhyaya.

While some of Africa’s mobility startups are planning to bolster their offerings to include electric vehicle production, fleet purchase and financing, others are setting their sights on regional and overseas expansion to tap into a multi-billion dollar market being driven by rising demand for cheap, low-emissions transport.

A recent raise of $10 million in new debt by Nigeria’s Moove was to fuel its overseas expansion in India, the mobility company said.

The vehicle financing startup said the funding would strengthen its India presence by allowing it to expand operations to three additional Indian cities – Delhi, Pune, and Kolkata.

The startup entered the Indian market in 2023, following a strategic partnership with Uber that targets the introduction of 25,000 electric vehicles in the Indian market. The company currently operates in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad in India and boasts a presence across nine markets in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Another Nigeria-based mobility operator, Shekel Mobility, recently announced securing $7 million in funding to propel its growth and expansion plans. Shekel is a B2B auto dealers’ marketplace that enables users to find, finance, and sell cars. The startup has an ambitious transaction goal of $10 billion annually, by 2025.

Over its 20 months of operations, the startup said it has facilitated more than $56 million in auto dealer transactions and supported over 1,400 dealers.

“We have positioned ourselves as a transformative force in the African automotive market. This infusion of $7 million in fresh funding is poised to enhance our financial services, expand into new markets, and sustain our impressive growth trajectory,” Shekel said in a statement.

With Francophone Africa continuing to attract foreign startup investments, Senegalese startup, Mbay Mobility has also thrown its 10-year rollout plan into the mix.

The startup, which began piloting electric vehicles in 2022, announced in January it was actively seeking funding to purchase a fleet of 33,000 electric taxis for rollout in Accra, Dakar, and Abidjan. The startup has yet to disclose its funding target.

Earlier this year, Oliver Wyman, a global management firm, in a report titled ‘Shared Mobility’s Global Impact’ projected Africa’s shared mobility market size would grow from $4.2 billion in 2023  to $7.8 billion by 2030. 

Growth in the market will come from ride-hailing, e-bike and scooter rentals and car-sharing, driven by  Africa’s fast-growing urban population on a continent with the world’s largest population under the age of 30.

Going asset-light means that Gokada owns only 10% of the estimated 5,000 bikes on its platform. Drivers are onboarded as partners and are charged a commission for every order they fulfill. 

Founded in 2017, Gokada initially began with a hire-purchase agreement for drivers. The arrangement involved the company buying the motorcycles and charging a daily repayment fee spread for up to three years. The plan was to convert these drivers into partners upon completing their payments. But this approach proved costly.

Since Gokada owned the bikes, it took on expensive maintenance costs that ran into tens of thousands of dollars monthly between late 2021 and early 2022.

“We thought to ourselves, what can we do to stop this? If we had continued, the business would have closed down,” Omotosho said. The company reworked the hire-purchase agreement and passed the maintenance cost to drivers. These decisions helped Gokada grow its revenue in 2022, the company said.  

Gokada will no longer buy motorcycles for drivers and will instead connect drivers who need motorcycles to financing companies. It will only manage the motorcycles and oversee payment collection.

The company is also in talks with investors to raise funding this year, Omotosho said, declining to provide additional details. 

In 2022, Gokada was looking to sell a competitor, Kwik Logistics, but the deal did not go through. In February 2023, TechCabal reported the company was looking to raise $100,000 through crowdfunding. The company raised $5.3 million in Series A funding in 2019.

Gone through the ‘worst phase’

2020 was a difficult year for Gokada. A ban on two-wheelers in Lagos forced the company to pivot from ride-hailing services to the delivery business. It also laid off 80% of its workforce. Fahim Saleh, the company’s former CEO, was also murdered in his New York apartment in the same year.

In February 2023, Gokada laid off at least 54 employees, citing harsh macroeconomic conditions. It also had to become a leaner operation, reducing its two offices into one and renegotiating terms with some of its vendors. The COO said no employee has been let go since the last layoffs and the staff count is now around 30.

“We have gone through the worst phase. We are not above the water yet. This survival period has allowed see what needs to be supported and what isn’t necessary,” he said.

The same no-commission incentive was used during the platform’s launch of operations in Zambia. In countries like Kenya, Bolt applies a standard 18% commission, and no longer requires a booking fee.

The Zimbabwe entry marks Bolt’s presence in its twelfth country, with its first launch in South Africa in 2016. Before this expansion, Bolt had conducted pilot operations in Zambia in October 2023. According to a statement seen by TechCabal, the platform will initially undergo a pilot test, which has onboarded 300 driver partners. Zimbabwe is now Bolt’s third station in the southern Africa region and will offer ride-hailing services to both corporates and individuals.

Laurent Koerge, Head of Expansion at Bolt, said, “We are excited to be piloting our services in Zimbabwe. Our goal is not only to offer our drivers higher revenues per hire but also to ensure a high demand due to competitive prices. Accordingly, our commission is significantly lower than that of our competitors.”

In early 2023, Bolt announced its plan to invest over €500 million in the African market. One of its initiatives was to job offer opportunities for over 300,000 driver partners. Currently, the company operates in 45 countries globally, serving more than 150 million customers and working with over 3 million drivers.

The platform has worked towards enhancing the safety of its services for both riders and drivers. Addressing various safety concerns, it took the step of suspending over 10,000 drivers in Nigeria and Kenya during the last six months of 2023. Bolt has also implemented safety features, including an SOS button, rider and driver verification, and the ability for users to notify Bolt if a driver opts to go offline during a trip.

“Our focus is to make sure all the ride-hailing companies put our members on Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) plans,” Ibrahim Ayoade, the general secretary of the App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), told TechCabal on a phone call today. 

The drivers are pushing for health insurance benefits that are not tied to performance.

“We have been providing health insurance for three years,” said Femi Adeyemo, Bolt’s Local Communication manager, in a text message.

But drivers disagreed, stating the feature only applied as an incentive. “Bolt has one they use as an incentive when you overwork yourself to make about 300 trips. Many people have accidents trying to win the healthcare bonus,” national treasurer for the Union, Jolaiya Moses, said on a separate call. 

Another driver who did not wish to be named said LagRide asked drivers to pay for their health insurance. Although Uber’s head of communications for East and West Africa, Lorraine Onduru, did not respond to TechCabal’s questions at the time of this report, this article says Uber only provides injury protection for drivers on active trips, as the mobility firm sees drivers as independent contractors, not employees.

TechCabal earlier reported that Padmore died Monday morning as he prepared his routine of picking up passengers. A medical report obtained from Louis Med Hospital in Lekki showed he was pronounced dead at 5:45 am. His corpse was taken to Ibadan in his LagRide vehicle—which he was still financing, some drivers told TechCabal.

Ayoade had previously condemned the LagRide’s financing model last month. He claimed the model encouraged driver partners to demand unrealistic returns from drivers. “Lack of money makes some of our members sleep in their cars on the highways. The asset financing model of some app firms does not enable drivers to save any money for themselves,” he added.

Many drivers operating the e-hailing sector are like Padmore, who have made their cars home. Some of them sleep on highways to meet targets set by ride-hailing companies or personal targets they made for themselves.

Padmore’s death has come with an awakening among drivers who have now united to press home health insurance demands. “We are trying to evaluate everything that happened, but further actions will be taken when we bury our colleague this weekend,” Ayoade said.

“He collapsed at 5 a.m. this morning after checking the bonnet before resuming today’s job, and we had to revive him with buckets of water,” said Saheed Ayeni, one of three drivers who took Padmore to Louis Med hospital in Lekki, from Oniru market where he collapsed. “His last words while we rushed him here were, “Don’t let me die.”

Padmore was pronounced dead minutes after a doctor attended to him. A cause of death has not been established at the time of this report. 

“We will conduct an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death,” said Tumi Adeyemi, the head of the solutions for LagRide. He also told TechCabal that an investigation would be launched into the matter. 

Padmore was previously treating an undisclosed ailment, said Saheed Ayeni and one other driver. According to them, LagRide’s daily targets put drivers like Padmore under pressure. 

In December 2023, Ibrahim Ayoade, the general secretary of the App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), faulted LagRide’s financing model, claiming it encouraged driver partners to demand unrealistic returns from drivers. He said the association had critiqued this “killer model” with no success.

LagRide operates a lease-to-own model that allows drivers to make a downpayment of ₦700,000 ($791) for brand-new GAC vehicles (SUV and Sedan options). Drivers spread the rest of the payments across four years by making daily payments of ₦8900 ($11.25). 

However, according to a dashboard seen by TechCabal, drivers are obligated to drive for 10 hours daily or a total of 150 kilometres. 

Meeting those targets ensures drivers earn enough to cover expenses and LagRide’s daily repayments, reducing the possibility of defaults. Drivers who work ten hours earn ₦43,000 on average and take home around ₦10,000 after expenses, said three LagRide drivers.

Failing to meet targets does not attract punishment or penalties, but it puts their dashboard in a “negative daily percentage,” said one driver.

Over 20 ride-hailing drivers gathered at the hospital, echoing LagRide’s failure in its duty to drivers. “They stopped paying for our health insurance and car maintenance months ago,” said a driver who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. 

The drivers have contacted the Padmore family based in Ibadan. The corpse is being moved to his hometown at the moment.

*This is a developing story

Got a Tip?
We’d like to hear from you. With a nonwork phone or computer, contact the author of this article at joseph.olaoluwa@bigcabal.com. TechCabal protects the confidentiality of its sources.

Part of the new tax notice, which is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2024, states that “any commercial vehicle owner that earns income from the operation of a commercial vehicle shall pay income tax on a quarterly basis.” 

Ride-hailing companies—Uber, Bolt, and Yango—are expected to verify that their driver partners have paid VIT before allowing them to operate on their platforms. Per the notice by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), ride-hailing companies are required to demand a soft copy of the VIT sticker from their drivers, validate the authenticity of the stickers with the GRA, and submit the list of all vehicles on their platforms quarterly to the GRA. 

Several drivers who spoke to TechCabal said the new tax was a surprise as they already pay a commission to the ride-hailing companies. The drivers argue that the tax burden should fall on ride-hailing companies instead of individual drivers. Bolt and Uber charge a 20% commission on every trip, while Yango reportedly takes 18%.

“Many of us already struggle due to the current commission structures,” Kwame, an Uber driver, told TechCabal. “Adding another layer of tax on top of fuel costs and car maintenance is like adding more to our problems.”

“They are cheating us,” said John, another ride-hailing driver. “I know many drivers sitting at home because they aren’t satisfied with the commission taken by the ride-hailing companies. So if Ghana Revenue Authority imposes a new tax on us, how will it affect the fares?”

According to a breakdown on GRA’s website, ride-hailing vehicles fall under “Class A” and will pay 12 Ghana Cedis quarterly, totaling 48 GHC annually. The agency mandates all commercial vehicle operators to buy VIT stickers from any Domestic Tax Revenue Office. The sticker is expected to be pasted on the vehicle’s front windscreen. 

The new regulation is Ghana’s latest attempt to impose taxes on ride-hailing companies. In April, Ghana’s Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) introduced the “Digital Transport Guidelines,” which imposed a levy on every ride-hailing trip. 

The levy meant that all five ride-hailing firms operating in Ghana would foist an additional charge of one Ghana cedis passenger using their platforms. However, the move was criticized by citizens who already felt the pinch of a flagging economy. Ghana has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in Africa. According to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Ghana’s tax-to-GDP ratio in 2021 (14.1%)—its highest ever—was lower than the average of the 33 African countries in 2023 (15.6%). 

LagRide, the Lagos state-backed ride-hailing platform, has recovered 21 cars from one of its partners, one Idris Shonuga, as part of efforts to reform its asset financing model with drivers on its platform. The asset financing model means that LagRide vehicles remain the company’s property until the driver completes payment for it. Drivers have to pay ₦8,900 daily for four years to claim vehicle ownership.

Explaining the need for the reforms, an executive director of Ibile Holdings, LagRide’s parent company, Oyekanmi Elegushi, told TechCabal that Shonuga held 21 cars in his custody unused for six months. This resulted in losses for Ibile Holdings who secured the cars via a loan facility with Polaris Bank. 

“The cars we seized were from IOS Holdings [a company owned by Idris Shonuga],” Elegushi said. “The cars were seized because they were meant to make money but were not making money. That means you don’t need it. Each of the cars was expected to remit ₦8,900 daily to LagRide but did not.”

Elegushi said Shonuga held on to three extra cars and refused to let go of them, an act that was criminally motivated. “We have submitted the case to [the police station at] Alagbon,” he added.

Shonuga admitted to owning IOS Holdings, a company that recruits drivers and gives them vehicles to drive for LagRide. “They [LagRide] said categorically they do not want partners after bringing them on board,” Elegushi said, in response to the allegations against him. “IOS is helping [LagRide] to get good drivers. We always get drivers in line with what the government said the scheme is created for.” 

Offering an explanation for the idle cars discovered in his possession, Shonuga told TechCabal that fuel scarcity was part of the factors that made some drivers abandon the cars with him.

Ride-hailing drivers, under the  Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), have criticised the asset financing model of LagRide. According to them,  LagRide’s partners take advantage of the model to accumulate cars and demand unrealistic returns from the drivers.

“We have told LagRide that the [asset financing] scheme is a killer,” the general secretary of AUATON, Ibrahim Ayoade, told TechCabal in an interview. “In totality, it is a failure of the government, especially the Lagos government, who promised drivers employment. We critiqued this model, but they used our members against one another.” 

The state of affairs at LagRide has reawoken the debate of the viability of the asset financing model in the Nigerian mobility sector. Earlier this year, Moove drivers protested against the model due to the steep repayments. 

Ayoade is of the opinion that the Lagos state government cannot impose cars on e-hailing drivers: the model the mobility service operates does not allow drivers to register their own cars on the platform like they can with other ride-hailers like Uber and Bolt. They can only use LagRide-branded cars on the platform. 

“If the government wants to do an empowerment scheme, it can give drivers grants to buy cars. You cannot impose cars on drivers!” Ayoade said when he spoke to TechCabal.

He also believes that LagRide should be an empowerment platform that gives drivers cars instead of them paying for it for a period of four years under the asset financing model.

Ayoade however vowed to work in the best interest of vulnerable drivers under their union that were caught up in this issue.