Africa's new powering grid
Investors are lining up a series of charging stations for electric cars
Governments and players in the automobile, real estate and oil-marketing sectors are already putting up electric charging infrastructure to offer facilities to a nascent fleet of electric vehicles.
The installation of electric car charging stations is gaining momentum in Africa as investors look to exploit what will develop into a multimillion-dollar market opportunity driven by a growing demand for e-mobility.
Most of these opportunities focus on SA, Morocco, Kenya and to a lesser extent, aspirational markets like Uganda.
In SA in January, German carmaker Audi announced plans for 70 ultra-fast (150kw) public charging stations across 33 sites. The charge points provide direct current (DC) that will fully charge vehicles in less than an hour.
The charging points being implemented with electric vehicle charging authority, Gridcars, are lined up on major highways connecting Johannesburg and Cape Town while others are spread to cover public lifestyle and recreation facilities across the country.
Jaguar is also in partnership with Gridcars in a deal that will see 82 public charging stations installed in major hub sand along frequently travelled holiday routes. The R 30 million infrastructure investment targets the country’s major hubs including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Bloemfontein.
South Africa, the most advanced e-mobility market in Africa, had about 1,000 electric vehicles (EVS) in January 2022 out of a total fleet of 12 million automobiles, while the number of EVS was estimated at 350 in Kenya out of some 2.2 million registered vehicles in the country, according to Statista.
“Electric mobility is still in development in Africa. Battery electric vehicles’ sales on the continent have overall increased in recent years, although have remained the lowest worldwide,” says Statista.
In Kenya, Rwanda-based start-up Ampersand is partnering with French oil marketer, Total Energies, to leverage its nation-wide network to expand its presence in the country.
Ampersand is looking to tap into 141 of Totalenergies’ 226 service stations that are already solar-powered, to put up battery charge swap stations. Already, three stations have been mapped in Nairobi’s upmarket estates to power the batteries of drivers of electric motorbikes.
“By leveraging Totalenergies’ incredible experience to expand our network of battery exchange stations, we can grow much faster than we previously thought,” says the company led by Josh Whale.
Another e-mobility start-up, Ekorent, has partnered with Strathmore University (SU) Research Centre in Nairobi. It expects its charging station network to be operational later this year.
Other players in this market include real estate firm Dowgate Properties, e-mobility firms, Drive Electric, Chargenet and Kenya Power, the country’s electricity distributor, which has announced partnership plans with mobility firms for electricity supply.
In Uganda, electric mobility startup Zembo last week announced the installation of four solar and hybrid charging stations along a 120-kilometre stretch from Kampala.
Its strategy includes reaching offgrid areas where it is difficult for drivers to find affordable fuel and even harder to find electricity.
Data Bridge researchers say the drive to invest in charging stations is being driven by consumer preferences rapidly inclining towards passenger and commercial electric vehicles (EVS) on the continent, due to rising environmental consciousness.
“Additionally, rapid urbanization, change in lifestyle, surge in investments and increased consumer spending positively impact the electric vehicle charging stations market,” said the report.
Mordor Intelligence projects a ‘substantial’ year-on-year growth in the adoption rate of electric vehicles in Africa and large investments in EV power capacity in the next decade.
Countries in the region “are in urgent need of alternative energy sources for transport, as well as an electricity storage solution to leverage their abundant renewable energy resources,” it said in its forecast for 2022-2027.