Ampersand, a Kigali-based electric vehicle (EV) energy tech company, signed a major agreement with a Chinese EV company, BYD, to improve electric motorbike development and deployment in Africa, on Tuesday, June 18.
Per the agreement, both companies will collaborate to decarbonise Africa’s commercial motorbike transport system.
Being its primary supplier, Ampersand will purchase batteries from BYD to build about 40,000 motorcycles by the end of 2026.
Ampersand’s press statement described BYD’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells as low-cost batteries with a long lifespan and an excellent safety record for everyday users, making them ideal for mass-market electric vehicles.
This development will form part of the broader mission to electrify most of Africa’s 30 million commercial motorbikes, most of which still run on fuel.
Ampersand, which boasts the largest charging network in Rwanda and Kenya, will leverage the new partnership to expand its charging infrastructure to support more electric motorbikes.
The expansion will let Ampersand meet the increasing demand for commercial motorcycles across African cities, effectively becoming a sustainable solution to support economic growth on the continent.
BYD’s batteries and manufacturing scale coupled with Ampersand’s market insight and technical product knowledge is expected to accelerate the transitioning of Africa’s commercial motorcycles from running on fuel to electricity.
“Switching the millions of taxi and delivery two-wheelers to EV energy tech represents one of the world’s best value-for-money decarbonisation opportunities. At the same time, this transformation will save millions of hardworking motorcycle riders six hundred dollars each a year, driving clean economic prosperity,” Josh Whale, CEO of Ampersand, said.
Whale also explained that the new partnership with BYD will count significantly towards its capacity to continue to provide sustainable, cost-effective, mass-market EV solutions.
On the part of BYD, the company cited Ampersand’s expertise and experience as the major basis for the partnership.
The Chinese-based tech company believes that electrifying commercial motorbikes is a decent first step towards a larger goal of cutting dependence on gasoline fuels for transportation in Africa, a view that it shares with Ampersand.
