The Kenya government prepares to achieve a sustainable environment by 2030
For most developing countries, manufacturing electric cars, popular as EVs, is just a long shot. Venturing into that space largely depends on the method of generating electricity, the stability of the power grid, availability of charging infrastructure, and customer interest, factors that generally don’t matter, especially in Africa.
But after more than a decade of hard conversations on clean energy, the electric cars market is beginning to gather steam. Companies are now battling for a piece of the green mobility market – with zero tailpipe emissions; for example, electric vehicles will play a significant role as far as the plan to achieve a sustainable environment is concerned.
“We believe that Africa has the potential to leapfrog from internal combustion engines (ICEs) into EVs due to a growing young population who are embracing the need for carbon-neutral mobility,” Martina Biene, chairperson and managing director of Volkswagen Group South Africa, said.
During her visit to Kenya last week, as part of the business delegation which accompanied South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on his state visit to the country, she met with the representatives of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). She mainly discussed Volkswagen’s investment and general challenges faced by the automotive industry in Kenya.
“We will continue working with key partners to develop the local automotive industry. With the right policies and partnerships, Kenya has the potential to be the major automotive market and a hub for other markets in the East Africa region,” she said.
To further enhance the growth of the new passenger car market and move into a higher degree of localization of parts, she added, the demand for new cars needs to be increased.
“One such issue is the importation of used cars, which remains a dominant presence in the automotive industry in many African countries, but which is stagnating the sale of new vehicles,” Bien said.
Ms. Biene notes that Volkswagen has been successful in the “going green” front and is now exploring opportunities of manufacturing electric vehicles in Africa by 2030. This comes at a time when the Kenyan government plans to have at least 5% of all registered vehicles be electric by 2025 to curb environmental pollution, especially from petroleum fuels.
“Africa is blessed with natural resources for renewable energy such as sun and wind. These could be used to power the EVs and provide energy at home. The potential for sustainable mobility on the African continent is immense,” she said.
She pointed out that the progress Kenya has made to industrialize her automotive industry will impact the marketplace big time. However, more should still be done to address the issue of imported used cars.
“Automotive manufacturers may be reluctant to invest in a country where imported used cars are still the primary source of mobility,” she said.
She also emphasized to KAM the importance of a speedy implementation of the automotive policy to attract other major automotive brands to invest in Kenya.
According to Chris Ndala, DT Dobie managing director, at a time when there is a growing concern about climate change which is the greatest existential challenge of our times, the move by the automotive brand to introduce EVs in Africa is welcome.
“The local assembly of four Volkswagen models at KVM, in Thika, makes Kenya the second country in Africa after South Africa where Volkswagen established operations,” said Ndala.
Volkswagen brand currently has assembly facilities in Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana, with the facility in Thika being the first (local) assembly set up in 2016.
