Decarbonizing the transportation sector is a crucial step to meeting global and local climate goals. Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement includes a 32% emission reduction target by 2030 and the government has identified transportation as a focal area for its updated NDC and National Climate Change Action Plan. However, mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has been slowed in Kenya including for several reasons including the  lack of comprehensive policy frameworks on e-mobility, lack of gender responsive upskilling, reskilling for an workforce, limited charging infrastructure, low public awareness of technologies and benefits, limited access to finance for owners and suppliers and higher upfront purchase costs.

In Kenya, two- and three-wheelers provide an ideal electrification pathway for the transport sector, as they account for 70% of annual vehicle registrations. WRI, supported by the Mitigation Action Facility and working with the government of Kenya as well as the Africa Guarantee Fund, is working to accelerate the growth of Kenya’s EV sector through industrial growth, upskilling and reskilling the EV workforce, expanding charging infrastructure, improving public awareness of opportunities and benefits, and expanding accessibility for purchasers.

The project focuses on increasing the uptake of electric two-wheelers (known as boda bodas) and three-wheelers (tuk tuks) in peri-urban and rural areas of Kenya. The project anticipates propelling the market to reach critical mass that will result in further market-driven transformation of the sector.

WRI’s past experience in implementing grants to electric mobility companies in Kenya through P4G Partnerships was crucial in identifying policy and financial needs to accelerate the market development for electric mobility. Through these government and private sector engagements, WRI gained valuable understanding of the barriers facing Kenya’s electric mobility sector from a variety of angles, including regulatory, financial, market, technical, social and behavioral.

Through project implementation, we aim to reduce more than 1 million tCO2e over a 10-year period. We also aim to mobilize local automotive assembly capacity for over 100,000 electric two- and three-wheelers in Kenya, resulting in the creation of 68,000 green jobs.

Cover image by Japheth Kipkirui/WRI