Electric motorcycles are spreading fast across Nairobi, Kampala and Kigali, drawn by lower running costs and growing rider demand. Assembly lines are scaling, swap-station networks are expanding into secondary towns, and several fleet operators report waiting lists for their electric fleets.
But the pace of adoption is exposing a gap: charging and battery-swap infrastructure is concentrated in city centres, leaving riders on the urban periphery reliant on informal, unreliable charging arrangements. Grid capacity in some neighbourhoods is already strained during peak swap hours, and operators are increasingly looking at solar-plus-storage hubs to avoid depending entirely on an unpredictable grid connection.
Policymakers are watching closely. Import duty exemptions and financing schemes have helped drive uptake, but without a parallel investment in charging infrastructure, the transport desk’s sources warn the sector risks a stall just as it reaches critical mass.