Kenyan electric vehicle (EV) startup BasiGo has raised $3 million (approximately KES400 million) in equity investment from CFAO Group. The new round of investment is meant to give a huge boost to the company as it looks to expand EV production in Kenya and Rwanda.
Akira Wada, the managing director of CFAO Kenya, expressed his enthusiasm for the future, stating, “This investment marks the beginning of a new era. We are not only committed to advancing the electric vehicle industry but also to fostering a sustainable green energy value chain that will positively impact communities across Africa.”
BasiGo is certainly looking to bolster its operations at a time when it has been unveiling its new line of electric buses at the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers plant in Thika. This marked Kenya’s first specialized assembly line for modern electric buses.
The company has set a target to produce 1000 electric buses in the next three years in a bid to transform the country’s public transport system which is still heavily reliant on fuel-powered vehicles. BasiGo states that they already have 500 orders from bus operators in Nairobi and 100 reservations from bus operators in Kigali, Rwanda.
This comes as a boost to the Kenyan government which launched a draft of its National E-mobility Policy two weeks ago. The new policy is designed to promote local production and assembly of electric vehicles.
“The cornerstone of the policy is the establishment of incentives meant to increase uptake of electric vehicles. Through the Finance Act 2019, the state also reduced excise duty on electric-powered vehicles to 10 per cent. Efforts are underway to revise national integrated transport policy to accommodate electric vehicles and requisite infrastructure,” stated Trade and Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano during the unveiling ceremony.
