By Abdelmonem Fawzi
We are facing a monumental task to prioritiseour needs.The reason is that climate change is hitting us harder and earlier than anywhere else on earth.
The estimated impact of a high-warming scenario translates into a 15% reduction in continental GDP per capita by 2050.
This is why we should searchfor ways to combat this threat.Accordingly, electric vehicles (EVs) are one of the major solutions. From an environmental perspective, the adoption of e-vehicles is a huge step towards reducing carbon emissions in transport.
The global market for EVshas expanded dramatically over the past decade, a trend which will only continue through 2050, with government and consumer spending on EVs increasing, driven by efforts to accelerate the decarbonisation of the transport industry, according to a study by automobile services provider, Vehicle Freak.
The study, titled, ‘EV Statistics 2023′, states that while consumers spent approximately $250 billion to purchase EVs in 2021 and global governments doubled EV investments to $30 billion during the same year, EV sales increased by 57% in 2022 compared to 2021 levels.
Additionally, the study forecasts that the global market for EV chargers will increase to $190 billion by 2030, with the deployment of rapid, fast, ultra-fast, smart EV charging and vehicle-to-grid technologies and infrastructure expanding.
EV manufacturers will seek to reduce the time spent by consumers to fully charge, while ensuring longer EV ranges.
The problem is that the transition to e-mobility has been very slow in our continent, in large measure because of worries about high up-front costs.
A new World Bank report makes a strong economic case for the wider adoption of electric vehicles in developing countries, with advantages that range from improved public health, to less urban traffic congestion, to a decrease in dependence on expensive imported fossil fuels.
The report offers market size and forecasts for Africa Electric Vehicle in terms of value (USD billion) for all the mentioned African governments are not pushing the auto industry to adopt more environmentally friendly options, so the transition to EVs has been slower.
The reason that is our continent continues to be affected by infrastructure challenges, such as weak electricity grids, poor roads, and a shortage of public electric chargers.
All of this understandably makes consumer demand for electric vehicles limited.
Also, a large volume of used conventional vehicles powered solely by an internal combustion engine(ICE vehicles) is imported into the African continent daily.
Unfortunately, this makes the price gap between ICE vehicles and EVs even more significant and challenging for the population to embrace electric mobility.
Although electric vehicle costs have dropped dramatically over the years, purchasing an EV is still out of reach for most Africans.
For example, given that a Nigerian earns an average annual salary of 71,185 naira per month, which corresponds to $170 (according to Nigerian and international recruitment agencies), and the average transaction price for an electric vehicle is $65,291, it is fair to conclude that most Africans do not consider purchasing an electric vehicle.
The good news is that despite these challenges, and contrary to the African continent’s trend, some countries, such as Egypt, are determined to move forward with electric mobility, with plans to manufacture 20,000 vehicles internally, starting in 2023, to accelerate EV adoption across the continent.
In March of 2022, El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company (NASCO) signed a shareholders’ agreement with the National Automotive Company to establish the country’s first EV distributor as well as a memorandum of understanding with Valeo Egypt, a subsidiary of the French automotive supplier of the same name, to design, develop and produce EV components.
The country’s first NASCO-manufactured EVs will hit the market this year (2023).
In addition, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, at least 50 startups in Kenya are developing two- and three-wheeled electric vehicles, thus introducing low-cost, sustainable vehicles to the continent’s treacherous roads.
Kenya aims for electric vehicles to account for 5% of all vehicle imports by 2025 and is cutting import duties on EVs in half.
Ghana, Rwanda, Seychelles, and Mauritius have also reduced or eliminated import duties.
Also, Ghana and Kenya aspire for rapid expansion and development by the end of 2030.
The Automobile Association of Zimbabwe, together with other members of the African Council of Touring and Automobile Clubs, indicated that unrestricted car importation has a severe influence on the continent’s environment, health, society, and economy.
There is an urgent need to lower carbon emissions from transport. All decarbonisation tools, including e-mobility, are on the table,” according to Cecilia M. Briceno-Garmendia, lead economist for the World Bank’s Transport Global Practice and lead author of the report.
“For developing countries, the e-mobility transition is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘how’ and ‘when,” she added.
It remains to be said that it is critical that the continent is not left behind as the rest of the world transitions.
Failure to create an enabling ecosystem for electric transport could see the region becoming a dumping ground for old ICE vehicles, setting back the continent’s carbon-emission-reduction goals as the vehicle parc continues to grow in the decades ahead.
The automotive future may be electric, but in ourcontinent, private-sector stakeholders, development partners, and governments may need to consider collaborative measures to accelerate the EV transition, or Africa may find itself stuck in the slow lane.
