China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Africa's Unconventional EV Shift as Ethiopia Plans Lithium Processing, Building EVs Locally
This week, there's more proof that Africa's electric mobility shift will not be conventional. To ease the electric vehicle (EV) rollout, automakers are investing in infrastructure to ensure that gaps on the ground won't hinder future sales and that EVs will still move regardless of whether car sales or charging networks come first.
In addition, African countries are still pushing for more local value addition to the EV value chain by ensuring that raw materials benefit their economies first. This approach may see more competition in a sector over which China holds a near-monopoly, and the stakes will likely keep rising.
While Chinese EV tech has gained ground almost unchallenged, dynamics are now changing. With second-hand vehicles still ruling the car market, the approach that shifts this segment to EVs will win the African mobility market.
Ethiopia's New Factory to Build Electric Vehicles With Locally Sourced Minerals
Ethiopia will leverage its untapped lithium and cobalt reserves to build a vertically integrated supply chain that will include every phase from raw material extraction, refining, battery assembly, and vehicle production.
The project aims to localize as much of the EV value chain as possible, ensuring that Ethiopia benefits from the key components used to build lithium-ion batteries.
Why This Matters: Chinese entities have controlled most of the extractive sector in African countries, with the raw materials being shipped to China for processing. Ethiopia's new partnership with European players will affect processing, tariffs, and how China reacts to this seeming encroachment on its perceived domain.
Spiro's New $100M Investment to Deploy 100K+ Electric Bikes Across AfricaSpiro
Spiro, an electric motorcycle company operating in six countries, including Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, has announced a $100 million investment round which will enable the company to deploy more than 100,000 electric bikes across Africa by the end of this year. Already, the company has over 60,000 bikes deployed and 1,500 battery swap stations.
Why This Matters: Funding for start-ups across Africa has decreased year-on-year, but this announcement defies this downward trend. The secret could be that motorcycles are electrifying at a faster rate than any other mobility sector, thus attracting funding that others cannot.
BYD Unconventional Approach to E-Mobilizing African Countries
China's EV giant BYD's latest development in South Africa shows that the electric mobility shift in Africa will not be conventional.
The automaker has an ambitious plan to build 300 charging stations across South Africa before the end of next year. This is part of the company's larger expansion drive in Africa's largest auto market. BYD will also not rely on South Africa's national grid but will build solar-powered charging stations with battery storage systems to enhance reliability.
Why This Matters: BYD started as a battery manufacturer, and its approach in South Africa only shows that the company is willing to go the extra mile to ensure that the brand stays ahead of the competition. It also raises questions about whether the charging stations will be universal, allowing other vehicles to charge there, or exclusive to the brand.