Eco Ride is launching an electric motorcycle assembly and driving training program in partnership with Rawbank and Vodacom in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The two-year training will benefit several waves of 50 young learners in the field of green economy and sustainable mobility in particular.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eco Ride, a solution developed by the start-up Mopepe Solutions specialized in sustainable mobility, will train about 50 young people every month in the assembly and driving of electric motorcycles in the capital Kinshasa. The commercial bank Rawbank and the Congolese subsidiary of Vodacom, which specializes in telecommunications, will provide the project with financial and material support worth a total of $1.3 million. The funds will finance motorcycles and training workshops.
“This training has a dual purpose of getting more electric motorcycles on the streets of Kinshasa, which are less polluting than most motorcycles on the market today, and creating jobs for hundreds of young people in a booming innovative sector,” says Yacine Fylla, founder of Eco Ride.
The start-up is also committed to contributing to the achievement of the 13th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) focused on the fight against climate change. In this sense, the company promises to create 1,000 green jobs over the next two years. This project is in addition to other initiatives of its local partners in the DRC, including the planting of more than 45,000 trees in schools, the establishment of 800 green sites in rural areas, the training of women in digital agriculture adapted to climatic conditions, the training of young people in waste recycling, as well as the implementation of an anti-erosion project to prevent natural disasters.
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As a reminder, Mopepe (“air” or “wind” in Lingala, editor’s note) offers solutions for sustainable development and ecological transition in Africa, particularly in the DRC where it is based. Among its solutions is Eco Car, a chauffeur-driven car rental service (VTC), equipped with a network of charging stations. This solution facilitates the transition from combustion vehicles to clean vehicles. “You can simply call or use the WhatsApp app to order an electric vehicle and pay via the various “mobile money” services because we are also given the mission to achieve financial inclusion,” explains Yacine Fylla, founder of Eco Ride in an interview with AFRIK 21 on July 26, 2021.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
