Collaboration aids Kenya's EV adoption

Clean and cheaper alternative to help boost green switch across continent

Just off Nairobi's busy Mombasa Road, beside the untamed beauty of Nairobi National Park, a quiet revolution is gaining momentum — one that is steadily transforming urban transport across Africa.

Inside the Roam assembly plant, over 300 workers are busy assembling electric motorcycles, locally known as boda bodas — referring to the motorcycle taxi service — that offer a clean, cheap alternative to traditional fuel-based transport.

At the heart of its success is not only local innovation but also strategic international collaboration, especially with China, where they source between 30-35 percent of the two-wheeler components to produce up to 20 units a day, as it focuses on ramping up production capacity to meet the surging demand.