Africa’s micro-mobility market to hit $29b by 2030

From the newsletter

The micro-mobility market in Africa and the Middle East will grow to more than double from $12 billion in 2022 to $29 billion in 2030, says McKinsey, the global consultancy. The electric micro-mobility market includes e-scooters, e-bikes, and other lightweight vehicles mainly for short distances.

• Most cities in Africa are becoming congested due to population growth and rural-to-urban migration. This has worsened traffic gridlocks, making it harder to move from one place to another.

• McKinsey estimates that the global micro-mobility market will reach about $360 billion by 2030, up from about $175 billion in 2022-mainly driven by e-bike sales

More details

• Africa’s cities are now more congested than ever, with the continent now boasting a population of more than 1.3 billion inhabitants. Traffic gridlock in major cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Cairo and Rabat is worsening. This is leading to a shift by motorists to smaller vehicles that can easily maneuver the congested cities.

• The rapid growth of e-commerce in Africa is also a major driver of the growth of micro-mobility. More and more Africans are buying goods online, and they need these goods to be delivered to their doorsteps fast. Most e-commerce platforms on the continent are now adopting motorcycles and three-wheelers for their last-mile deliveries. 

• Buoyed by its growth trajectory, the sector is attracting the attention of investors. For instance, Rabbit Mobility, an Egypt-based micro-mobility startup, raised $1.3 million in 2024 to support its expansion efforts across Egypt and North African markets. In 2023, Trekk Scooters, an e-scooters sharing company in Nigeria, launched its services at Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.

• Sales of electric bicycles, motorcycles and three-wheelers are growing rapidly in major markets such as Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco. In Kenya, sales of electric motorcycles and three-wheelers grew by a CAGR of 98% between 2018 and 2023. The market size stood at $5.8 million in 2023 during which 3,949 units were sold.

• New players are joining the market, which has already attracted a number of startups within the last 10 years. Some of the most notable names in shared micro-mobility services in Africa are Morocco's Medina Bike, Nigeria’s Awa Bike, Rwanda’s Gura Ride, Roam Electric, and eBee Africa. 

Our take

• Africa’s cities and towns still lack sufficient infrastructure that is specific for electric micro mobility such as bicycle lanes and charging points. There is also a lack of dedicated safe parking spaces. These issues must be solved by African governments to make it easy for micro-mobility operators to navigate the cities.

• African governments should increase public awareness on micro-mobility as a serious alternative method of transport. Many people in Africa see cycling as an exercise or leisure tool. But some countries in Europe such as the Netherlands have demonstrated that cycling can be an effective mode of transport.

• The lack of long-term urban planning has had a huge impact on transport in most African mega-cities. In the past decades, African authorities struggled to foresee how their cities would mutate and did not adapt their transport services and networks accordingly. In this current era where data is easily available, local governments should plan ahead to facilitate the growth of electric micro-mobility.