Capital Floods Africa's Electric Mobility Market as Legacy Firms Pivot Green
A wave of investment is reshaping Africa's transport landscape, with electric motorbike operators securing hundreds of millions in funding while traditional battery manufacturers abandon their core business for solar and EV partnerships.
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The electric mobility revolution gathering pace across African cities has attracted a new surge of capital, with investors pouring nearly $1.5 billion shillings into e-motorbike infrastructure over recent weeks while established manufacturers scramble to reinvent themselves for a battery-powered future.
The convergence of climate finance, urban congestion, and fuel price volatility has created what development banks and private investors now view as a rare alignment of commercial viability and environmental impact. Where sceptics once saw only subsidy-dependent ventures, financiers now identify self-sustaining business models built on battery-swapping networks and pay-as-you-go ownership structures that mirror the mobile money revolution.
Regional Expansion Draws Major Backing
Spiro, which operates electric motorbike networks across six African countries, secured Sh903 million in fresh funding to accelerate its continental expansion, according to Business Daily Africa. The company has deployed more than 80,000 electric motorbikes across Togo, Benin, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, and its newest markets, building the infrastructure backbone that makes battery-powered transport viable beyond pilot programmes.
The investment reflects growing confidence in cross-border scalability. Unlike earlier e-mobility ventures that struggled with fragmented supply chains and limited battery-swapping stations, Spiro's model relies on dense networks of swap points that reduce range anxiety—the persistent fear among riders that they will run out of power mid-journey. Each new market benefits from lessons learned in previous deployments, compressing the timeline from launch to profitability.
"International financiers have been quick to tap into the prospects of the e-mobility market," Business Daily Africa reported, noting that development finance institutions view the sector as bridging commercial returns with climate mitigation goals. The International Finance Corporation reinforced this assessment by acquiring a Sh645 million stake in an electric motorbike company, signalling that multilateral lenders consider the technology mature enough for direct equity positions rather than concessional loans.
Legacy Manufacturers Abandon Traditional Business
The capital influx has triggered strategic upheaval among established players. Eveready, a company synonymous with disposable batteries across East Africa for decades, announced it is pivoting toward solar products and consumer lending while entering electric mobility through a partnership with EV Jumla, according to Business Daily Africa. The shift represents a stark acknowledgment that the alkaline battery business faces terminal decline as rechargeable lithium-ion technology dominates consumer electronics and now transport.
Eveready's transformation illustrates the broader disruption rippling through energy and mobility value chains. Companies built on extractive, single-use models are racing to reposition themselves within circular economy frameworks where batteries are charged, swapped, and recycled rather than discarded. The consumer lending component addresses the affordability barrier that has kept electric vehicles out of reach for most African riders, who earn irregular incomes and lack access to traditional vehicle financing.
The partnership approach also reveals how quickly specialisation is emerging within the e-mobility ecosystem. Rather than attempting to manufacture vehicles or build charging networks independently, Eveready is leveraging existing operators like EV Jumla while focusing on its strengths in distribution and consumer relationships. This modular collaboration accelerates market development by allowing each player to concentrate on core competencies.
Infrastructure Becomes the Competitive Moat
The pattern of investment suggests that infrastructure density—not vehicle technology—will determine market winners. Spiro's 80,000-unit fleet across six countries creates network effects that make it the default choice for riders who need reliable access to charged batteries. Competitors entering the same markets face the costly challenge of building parallel infrastructure before they can compete on service quality or price.
Development finance institutions backing these ventures bring patient capital and risk tolerance that commercial banks cannot match. The IFC's Sh645 million equity stake provides not just funding but validation that attracts subsequent private investment. Multilateral involvement also facilitates regulatory dialogue with governments still formulating policies around electric vehicle standards, import duties, and charging infrastructure.
Yet the rapid capital deployment raises questions about market saturation and profitability timelines. With multiple operators chasing the same urban corridors and rider demographics, the sector may face a consolidation phase as weaker players exhaust their funding before reaching sustainable unit economics. The companies that survive will likely be those that locked in the densest swap networks and lowest battery costs through volume procurement.
For now, the momentum favours expansion over caution. As fuel prices remain volatile and African cities continue their chaotic growth, electric motorbikes offer a rare solution that addresses climate goals, urban air quality, and the economic pressures facing the continent's millions of motorcycle taxi operators. The question is no longer whether electric mobility will scale across Africa, but which companies will control the infrastructure that makes it possible.