February 06, 2025

Zambia, DRC to build EV battery factory

February 05, 2025

Zambia and DRC are set to build a transboundary electric battery & vehicle assembly factory in the Copperbelt & Katanga regions. The factory will use local minerals to make the batteries. Afrexim Bank is the project’s lead financier, while the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is providing technical help.

  • Both Zambia and the DRC are leading producers of copper and cobalt. In addition, they hold significant reserves of strategic minerals, such as rich deposits of manganese, iron, lithium, graphite, nickel, phosphorus and aluminium.

  • The two countries signed an MoU in April 2022 to leverage their critical minerals for local manufacture of electric batteries and vehicles.

  • Our take: Both Zambia and the DRC are heavily reliant on mineral exports. This leaves them vulnerable to global metal price shocks. The factory will help the two countries increase their foreign exchange earnings… Read more (2 min)

Automobile distributor CFAO Mobility Kenya, has raised its stake in Kenya’s largest assembly company, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM), to 98%. The distributor invested $7.7 million to purchase shares previously held by the Kenya Treasury and the Chinese company CMC Holdings Limited.

  • KVM hosts an assembly plant for BasiGo, an electric bus manufacturer. Opened in 2024, the plant aims to produce 1,000 electric buses by 2027. The facility has also partnered with Kenyan EV manufacturer Roam to assemble its fleet of electric buses. 

  • CFAO Mobility Kenya is expected to exit its contract with the Mombasa-based Associated Vehicle Assemblers and focus on modernising the KVM assembly plant.

  • Our take: Africa’s EV transition presents an opportunity to repurpose existing ICE assembly lines and gradually upskill the workforce with green expertise, ensuring cost efficiency and scalability… Read more (2 min)

EV firm Grace Mobility Ghana, a subsidiary of Lebanese investment company Grace Investments, has launched in Ghana. The company makes electric passenger and commercial vehicles, 2 and 3-wheelers, scooters, and recreational vehicles. Ghana is Grace Mobility’s first market in Africa.

  • Grace Mobility’s brands of electric vehicles include Wuling, Hongqi, Jinpeng, ZNA, Avatr, Neta, Greenman, Rich and RND which it will deploy in Ghana. Besides Ghana, the company, which was founded in 1995, is also targeting to launch in Cote d’Ivoire, Angola, Liberia.

  • The company has formed a joint venture with local automaker Auto Parts Ltd for the distribution and maintenance of EVs. Founded in 1941, Auto Parts has been the exclusive distributor of leading brands such as Volkswagen, Porsche and Nissan in Ghana.

  • Our take: Grace Mobility’s choice of Ghana as its first investment destination in Africa is a show of confidence in the country. Indeed, the firm partly attributed its choice to Ghana’s stable political environment and high electricity access rate. Read more (2 min)

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Dodai CEO Yuma Sasaki, third from left, poses with a delegation from Zemen Bank in Ethiopia

Events

🗓️ South Africa hosts EV Charge Live Africa (Mar 25)

🗓️ Algeria hosts Equip Auto Expo (Feb 17)

🗓️ South Africa hosts Africa Green Economy Summit (Feb 19)

Jobs

👨‍💼 M-KOPA seeks a deputy regional manager (South Africa)

👷🏻‍♀️ Shift EV seeks a senior quality engineer (Egypt)

👨‍⚖️ BasiGo seeks a corporate counsel (Kenya)

Various 

🥇 Spiro Uganda wins Reducing Carbon Footprint Award at Indian Business Forum

⚡ SANY Group visits Charge in Cape Town

🔌 Dave Coffey, Chief Executive of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturing (AAAM), speaks on Africa EV ambitions

Seen on LinkedIn 

Warren Ondanje, Managing Director of Africa E-Mobility Alliance, asks if Africa can bridge demand-side gaps faster to make the continent a global EV powerhouse.

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