Working to transform public transport, cars, motorcycles and cabs, many startups have opened offices in Kenya, looking to capitalize on Kenya's position as one of the world leaders in renewable energy sources, its wide adoption of technology and government’s push for electric vehicle to be adopted and then distributed in the country.

Kenya is a pacemaker in renewable energy. With 92.3% of electricity locally generated in 2020 coming from hydro, wind and geothermal, this number represents three times the amount that renewables contributed to electricity generation globally.

BasiGo, Opibus, Kiri, Nopea Ride, EVM Africa, Caetano and Agilitee Africa are among the companies advocating for the mass adoption of electric vehicles in Kenya. Right now, only about 350 of the country's 2.2 million cars are electric vehicles, but Kenya wants to increase that number.

In 2019, Kenya reduced the import duty for fully electric cars. In 2020, the country released a strategy to introduce electric cars while reducing the amount it spends on importing oil and cleaning the environment.

The country’s power utility, Kenya Power plans to build charging stations across the country and push for further tax reductions on imports for electric cars.

Kenyan authorities recently announced that only electric and hybrid cars will be used for the bus rapid transport system that will be launched in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi in June 2022.

BasiGo has already brought two 25-seat electric buses from Chinese manufacturer BYD to Kenya and these buses are undergoing performance and reliability tests in Nairobi. A pilot project will test the capabilities of the buses and this test is supposed to start next month in Nairobi. The company has also opened a charging station for the electric buses in the city.

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