Ampersand expands manufacturing in Kenya

From the newsletter

East Africa’s leading electric motorcycle manufacturer has opened a new 21,000-square-meter facility in Nairobi. This expansion triples its production capacity to 1,440 units per month to meet its growing demand in Kenya and the East Africa region. This move follows a series of successful ventures including:

• June 2024: A deal with BYD to secure a reliable supply of batteries for their electric motorcycles.

• August 2024: Securing $2 million in funding for regional expansion, bringing the total equity raised in the last 12 months to $21.5 million.

• September 2024: A partnership with CrossBoundary Energy to pilot 36 electric charging units and 150 lithium-ion batteries.

More details

• The new facility will employ over 100 staff members and contribute to Ampersand's ambitious goal of deploying 5 million electric motorcycles across East Africa by 2033.

• Though their current sales figures – 1,150 motorcycles in Kenya and 2,200 in Rwanda – suggest this target may be challenging to reach.

• Ampersand wants to replicate their Rwandan success, where they currently dominate 70% of the electric motorcycle market. Their current market share of roughly 50% in Kenya suggests they are well on their way to achieving this ambition.  

• However, the Kenyan market will have its own set of challenges. Ampersand will face stiff competition from established local manufacturers like Roam.

• Despite this competition, the Kenyan market is large. By structuring their business model to address affordability, the main challenge for EVs, Ampersand can secure a share of this market, which has a potential annual size of over 200,000 units

• Ampersand's selling point has always been its potential to reduce carbon emissions by at least 2 metric tons annually, while also increasing rider income by an average of 45%

Our take

• Despite having three times less capacity than Roam's plant, Ampersand's new facility will definitely rival local players like Roam. However, the competition won't be won solely on production capacity. Instead, the winners will likely be those with business models that address customer issues like affordability.

• Ampersand's expansion into Kenya, which has less favourable EV policies than Rwanda, clearly demonstrates their focus is more on Kenya's larger market size and demand.