After Benin and Togo, where it distributed 4,500 electric motorcycles in 2022, the Indian mobility start-up Spiro (formerly Mauto Electric Mobility) is entering the electric vehicle market in Uganda with the rollout of 140,000 electric motorcycles announced for the coming months. The investment should help decarbonize the transport sector in this East African country, which is increasingly courted by car manufacturers.
A new electric motorcycle assembly plant will be built in Uganda. The promise is made by the Indian car manufacturer Mauto Electric Mobility (M Auto), now Spiro, after signing an investment contract with the authorities of this East African country. At a total cost of 200 million dollars (754.6 billion Ugandan shillings), the start-up plans to deploy 140,000 electric motorcycles, particularly in the capital Kampala where, according to official figures, there are nearly 460,000 thermal vehicles on the road every day.
Spiro also plans to install a network of 3,000 battery exchange stations. “This partnership, the first of its kind between an African government and a green mobility company on the continent, will create more than 9,000 jobs and promote made-in-Uganda with affordable costs for drivers who will be able to save up to 40%,” says Spiro.
According to the company led by Togolese Shegun Adjadi Bakari, the initiative focused on the development of green mobility will improve air quality in Ugandan metropolises. The phenomenon is accentuated by the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by the polluting motorcycles called Boda Boda in East Africa. A statement supported by Edward Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Public Works and Transport of Uganda, who is pleased with the arrival of several mobility start-ups in the country.
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On site, Spiro finds Ampersand, which wants to put 600,000 electric motorcycles on the roads of East Africa by 2030, as well as Zembo, whose recent partnership with solar energy provider Aptech Africa involves the commissioning of an 8.5 kWp solar photovoltaic system. It will allow for the exchange of batteries for the 250 electric motorcycles put on the road by the startup created in 2019.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
