Spiro sets up 100,000 capacity e-bikes plant in Nigeria

From the newsletter

Spiro, the electric motorcycle manufacturer that operates in seven African countries, is set to open a new high-capacity assembly plant in Nigeria. The EV assembly plant will have a capacity to produce 100,000 electric motorcycles each year. It will be located in Nigeria’s Ogun State and will be opened by March 2025. 

• Spiro made its debut in Nigeria in July 2024 by setting up in Ogun State, one of Nigeria’s 36 federal states. The assembly plant in the State has a capacity to make 1,000 e-bikes annually. But demand for electric motorcycles in the West African nation has rapidly increased, necessitating the construction of a higher capacity facility.

• The EV firm is the largest electric motorcycle manufacturer in Africa. The company has so far assembled more than 22,000 units to date. It operates in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Benin, Rwanda and Togo.

More details

• Spiro’s new plant will ramp up production from the current 1,000 units in 2024 by tenfold to 100,000 units. It will also mark the company’s expansion into the electric three-wheeler segment. Further, the company will lead the development of public fast-charging infrastructure in Nigeria.

• The EV firm, which was founded in 2019, commenced testing electric three-wheelers across multiple Nigerian states. According to Spiro’s Director for West Africa Rahul Gaur, the electric three-wheelers achieve a range of 100 km in the markets where they have been tested.

• Spiro’s growth plan for Nigeria includes expanding into major states across the country, with planned hubs in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun, Oyo, Ibadan, Delta, and Kwara. It aims to achieve this through building a network of public fast charging and battery Swapping and collaborating with financial institutions and local governments.

• Spiro has accelerated partnerships with African governments to drive its continental expansion. In 2023, it collaborated with the Ugandan government to deploy 140,000 bikes by 2028 and with Kenya to introduce 1.2 million electric vehicles. In May 2024, Spiro expanded its presence in Nigeria’s Ogun State by launching three swap stations.

• The company launched its e-bikes in Kenya’s capital Nairobi in May 2024 following a successful debut in Mombasa. It also opened an assembly plant in the capital with a capacity to produce more than 50,000 units per year. In July 2024, Spiro also launched operations in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. The company is planning to expand its operations to Tanzania, Ghana and Cameroon. 

Our take

• Nigeria, which has a population of more than 223 million, is one of the largest markets for motorcycles in the world. More than 673,000 motorcycles were sold in the country in 2024. Demand for motorcycles is expected to hit more than 744,000 in 2029. However, the share of electric motorcycles remains small. EV companies like Spiro have big shoes to fill to electrify Nigeria’s transport.

• Lack of access to electricity is a major setback for the adoption of electric motorcycles in Nigeria. In 2022, about 60.5% of Nigeria's population had access to electricity. This number has remained relatively stable at around 50–60% since 2011. This presents a hurdle for EVs adoption. For EV firms such as Spiro to succeed in Nigeria, they will have to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to make charging available for EV users.

• Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, has one of the cheapest fuel prices on the continent. The country heavily subsidizes the product, making it cheaper than in many other African countries. This makes it harder to make a case for electric motorcycles, which remain costlier than ICE motorcycles on average. For Nigeria to make significant progress in e-mobility, it should adopt policies that delicately balance between the economic need to make fuel affordable but also encourage the growth of EVs, which are the future of transportation.