Kenya gets $378 million EU loan to roll out electric BRT system
The European Union has approved a $378 million financing for Kenya to boost the country’s Bus Rapid Transport System which will be run by EVs.
Following a meeting between Kenya's President, William Ruto, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von de Leyen, the EU says its loaning $378 million to finance the electrification of Kenya's public transportation system.
In 2019, Kenya reduced the import duty for fully electric vehicles. The following year, the government released a strategy to increase the adoption of EVs, especially on the country's bus rapid transit line 3 (BRT 3).
Kenya Power previously announced its plan to build a nationwide network of public charging points, removing one of the hurdles for use of electric cars in Kenya.
However, due to a lack of funding the implementation has been slow. This EU loan will enable the Kenyan government to drive its zero-emission agenda. Currently, only about 350 of Kenya's 2.2 million cars are electric, this number will possibly increase in the coming months.
Last year, BasiGo, a Kenyan cleantech startup raised a $4.3 million seed to kick off an Electric Vehicles (EV) assembly plant in Nairobi and to launch the sales and delivery of its electric buses.
Over the next five years, BasiGo says it intends to deploy over 1,000 mass transit electric buses to transport operators in Nairobi. Currently, the startup has a charging and servicing depot at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Kenya's BRT will only be operated by green (electric, hybrid and biodiesel) vehicles, presenting a great business opportunity for EV manufacturers like Opibus and assemblers like BasiGo.
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