High particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution from vehicle tailpipe emissions poses serious environmental and health risks in Sub-Saharan Africa. These emissions have a significant impact on poor health outcomes, developmental stunting, and even untimely deaths. Beyond the acute health consequences, vehicle emissions contribute significantly to global warming. Despite these severe challenges, there is a hesitation in adopting electric vehicles in Africa, which is a viable answer. For example, South Africa, the region’s largest economy, had only approximately 1,000 electric cars by 2022.

As transport engineers, our research has focused on electric vehicles and road freight transit in Sub-Saharan Africa. We investigate the potential of EVs to cut emissions and identify the challenges to widespread adoption.

One key barrier is the expensive cost of EVs, exacerbated by their short range and slow battery charging periods. These difficulties are especially significant when driving long distances and at high frequencies. Furthermore, the region’s inability to produce and distribute enough clean electricity presents a serious challenge. Currently, more than half of the region’s electricity is generated by the combustion of fossil fuels, suggesting that EVs driven by this energy source may not significantly cut carbon emissions. Despite these obstacles, there is development. Introducing electric motorcycles and small public vehicles has begun, providing a ray of optimism. Locally manufactured Electric vehicles in Africa using clean energy might offer enormous economic benefits to the region, paving the way for a sustainable future.

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Transition to Electric Mobility: Barriers and Opportunities

Transitioning to Electric vehicles in Africa necessitates significant investments in renewable energy infrastructure. Charging stations, while relatively easy to install, require dependable and sustainable energy sources to function well. South Africa already has a high EV-to-charger ratio of 1:5, substantially better than the UK’s 1:20. However, these charging stations must provide electricity when vehicles require it, relying on colossal battery storage devices that are still being developed.

The informal public transport sector, which transports approximately 72% of the region’s people, and the goods transport sector, which compensates for poor rail infrastructure, are crucial for electrification. Informal transportation systems, such as minibuses, three-wheelers, and motorcycles, function in a decentralised and demand-driven way, making electrification challenging. Similarly, electrifying goods transportation requires extensive planning and expense. To support various vehicle sizes, high-powered, fast-charging stations must be established along major transportation routes. However, more than the goods business is needed to handle these expenses.

To fulfil global Net Zero goals by 2050, the transport sector must switch to electric mobility quicker than smartphones’ increasing adoption. Significant infrastructure improvements will be required, including roads, truck stops, minibus terminals, and electrical distribution networks. However, even with such efforts, EVs’ modest charging speeds pose constraints. For example, a diesel minibus taxi can refuel 750 kilometres of travel in one minute. In contrast, the fastest available electric minibus can only recharge at 2km per minute using DC and 0.3km per minute using AC charging. Electric minibuses have a far shorter range than diesel minibuses, at only 21% of the distance.

Fuel storage facilities for diesel minibuses can contain up to 225,000 kilometres of fuel. In contrast, equal electric battery storage could only handle 16,000 kilometres. While range-extending and swappable battery systems could help to address this issue, they would be much more expensive, making them unprofitable for the freight industry.

Establishing a Local Electric Vehicle Industry

Sub-Saharan Africa has long been a dumping site for used vehicles from wealthier nations. However, the comparably simpler designs of EVs allow the region to break away from this tendency and build a local EV manufacturing sector. Reskilling people from traditional combustion engine production to EV manufacture could result in hundreds of thousands of new employment, boosting economic growth and lowering reliance on imported vehicles. The region can design and manufacture essential powertrain components like batteries and electric motors. Establishing local companies would increase employment and limit the influx of low-cost EV imports that do not benefit local economies. For example, Ethiopia has prohibited the import of combustion vehicles, indicating a shift towards cleaner mobility. Similarly, Senegal will launch Africa’s first all-electric mass rapid transport system in Dakar in 2023, while South Africa’s Golden Arrow Bus Company purchased 120 electric buses this year. Heavy-duty electric trucks are also entering the South African market.

Furthermore, Sub-Saharan Africa has made significant strides in creating electric two- and three-wheelers for public transportation and last-mile delivery. Companies like Ampersand in Rwanda, Roam Electric in Kenya, and Spiro in Benin lead the way. These vehicles frequently rely on creative solutions to improve accessibility, such as battery switching and mobile payment systems. Mellowvans manufactures last-mile three-wheelers in South Africa, and a Roam Air electric motorcycle has used solar electricity to go 6,000 kilometres from Nairobi to Stellenbosch. Kenya’s BasiGO, which manufactures buses locally, also offers financing for electric buses, while Roam Electric designs and manufactures buses and motorcycles. Furthermore, Stellenbosch University in South Africa converted a fuel minibus taxi and a 65-seater diesel bus to electric vehicles.

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Steps Towards Electricity

The transition to Electric vehicles in Africa is unavoidable but will require careful planning and coordination. The following stages are critical for the region’s effective adoption of electric mobility:

• Revise Transport Policies: Review goods vehicle regulations, such as axle weight and vehicle length, to enable compliance with imported EVs on African roads.
• Improve Paratransit Systems: Ensure informal transportation is safe, efficient, and egalitarian.
• Implement Smart Import Charges: Balance import charges and incentives to stimulate EV adoption without flooding the market with obsolete hybrid vehicles. For example, Rwanda’s abolition of customs fees on electric vehicles invaded outdated hybrids with exhausted batteries. Meanwhile, South Africa’s protective car import charges and luxury taxes on electric vehicles make them expensive for many.
• Redefine Taxation Models: Fuel levies are currently an important source of government revenue in nations such as South Africa. These models must be reinvented to account for the transition to electric mobility.

To reap the full benefits of the EV revolution, Sub-Saharan African countries must prioritise domestic production and invest in renewable energy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Electric vehicles in Africa have enormous potential for addressing the dual concerns of pollution and global warming in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the path to electrification is beset with difficulties, ranging from high costs and infrastructure shortfalls to the demand for clean energy. Despite these challenges, the region has already proved its ability to innovate, with local manufacturing ventures and sustainable transit projects gaining traction. Sub-Saharan Africa may move towards a cleaner, more sustainable transportation system by building a favourable regulatory environment, spending on renewable energy, and prioritising local production. The electrification of regional transit is more than a possibility; it is an unavoidable reality that promises a healthier, more affluent future for all.

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