ENERGY ACCESS BOOSTER PRIZE
We are thrilled to announce that we have been chosen as one of the of the 4 winners of the 2021 Energy Access Booster for Sustainable Mobility award.
A huge thank you to Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Enea Consulting and TotalEnergies for recognising Mobility for Africa with this award. We are confident that our fleet management system can provide efficient, green energy, last mile mobility solutions to women living in rural communities.
This award will provide us with strategic advisor support, financial contributions, heightened visibility and operational and local support. We are so grateful to be one of the recipients and are excited to see how we can utilise these benefits as we continue to expand across the African continent in 2022. Congratulations also to the other prize winners.
MOBILITY FOR AFRICA DIGITAL PLATFORM
Mobility for Africa and Disrupt Technology Advisors (South Africa), bottom of the pyramid, technology & consulting organisation, have signed a partnership agreement to work together to develop, build and an end to end integrated digital platform.
EGG PRODUCTION & MOBILITY IN DOMBASHOWA
MFA's bespoke batteries for the Hamba
Mobility for Africa has designed bespoke battery and battery swapping charging station that aims to take the Hamba (our E-tricycle) further, is safe & tough for rough off road conditions & energy efficient.
MILK COLLECTION BEGINS IN CHIPINGE
Zimbabwe’s First Certified Factory to Assemble Tricycles
With Covid delays, our supply chain has been delayed but our third container of tricycles has just landed. And after a virtual inspection tour and some modifications at our factory, we are proud to announce that we are the first certified local factory to do assembly of tricycles and qualify for exemption on duty.
It is the result of our intense and persistent lobbying efforts. A year ago, when our second container of tricycles arrived at the port in Beira in Mozambique, we faced an unexpected shock. Input duty for our knock down tricycles was 25 percent. This was on top of the VAT of 15 percent. As the US Dollar had been reintroduced, this translated into a lot of money. After meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, we realised while the country had a lower duty for 2 wheel and 4 wheel vehicles that were locally assembled, there was nothing that took into account tricycles. We jumped into action. With the help of Lloyd Manakore, a lawyer working pro bono, a lot of phone calls, late night messages, days camped out at the Ministry of Finance & even frantic personal calls to Minister of Finance while he was in Davos for the World Economic Forum, a new Statutory Instrument was introduced to remove any import duty for tricycles that were locally assembled.
CONFERENCE INSIGHTS: MOMENTUM IN THE EV SECTOR
During the months of October and November, Mobility for Africa was busy participating in a series of renewable energy conferences and webinars. This work confirmed that electric mobility is now on the energy agenda and a new area of interest by a range of stakeholders. When we started our pilot, it felt like we were on our own. Yes, there was a flurry of activity in the motorbike space and some great work being done in East Africa to convert existing urban taxi fleets to electric. But no one seemed to think electric mobility was a viable partner for the burgeoning mini-grid rural sector.
Now, the demand for participating in this nascent ecosystem positions Mobility for Africa as an emerging leader, learning by doing. While interest is growing and despite much more work needing to be done, our comparative advantage is that we now have practical experience to engage in many conversations.
AWARD NOMINATIONS
MFA AND PARTNER, SOLAR SHACK, UPGRADE
In October, Solar Shack completed an upgrade of our solar charging station in Wedza, increasing the array of 30 x 325W solar panels by one third, to a total of 40 panels. The initial battery bank was also replaced with a Freedom Won 5/4 lithium ion battery. This battery has a high discharge current and is ideal for the high-charging loads at the charging station. These improvements bring the output to charging up to 18 batteries per day using off-grid renewable energy.
As we seek to adapt the Hamba for African off-road conditions, we have been fortunate to have a team of world class automobile engineers provide detailed technical feedback. We are now in the process of consolidating this feedback with our own experiences from the pilot in Wedza
Partnering with health workers to respond to COVID-19
For the past decade, Cladys Mhlanga has been the nurse -in-charge with the IGAVA clinic. Her commitment to the community’s health and well-being seems boundless. Added to her usual overwhelming array of duties of delivering babies, immunizing children and providing HIV testing and counselling, these days of COVID-19 pandemic, she is also keeping her eye on household hygiene practices.
Mobility For Africa Shows How Electric Vehicles Can Transform Lives Where It Matters Most
MFA Does a Factory Makeover
As Mobility for Africa gets ready to scale up, we spent the last month improving our assembly factory. In a week-long flurry of activity, the team worked hard to transform our space into a professional work environment. We now have a management inventory system, protection from dust, workstations to scale up efficiency safety standards, and a new staff room area.
How the Hamba Can Change Individual Lives
Never having driven before, trading in the community and selling produce has never been easy for MFA pilot participant Angelina . Public transport is expensive and she often has to wait hours to travel to the trading area, or growth point in Wedza or Marondera, the closest town. A single trip could cost about 35 Zimbabwe dollars (USD2.5) which is 4.38% of her monthly teachers’ salary of 800 Zimbabwean dollars.(USD 55)
Learning Perseverance- Perspective from an African start-up
Trading the security of a monthly salary after almost twenty years working in the international development sector to become a social entrepreneur in Africa has been quite a ride. When I set out on to bring the electric vehicle revolution to rural women – the people I believe who need it the most, I was confident that such a brilliant idea would immediately lead to investment and action.
Pushing the EV agenda in Southern Africa
So having felt a bit lonely when I started talking electric mobility for Africa almost three years ago, it finally seems the winds of change are starting to blow. Now not just Tesla is talking electric. In the last year or two, all the big car companies are introducing new models and investing in partnerships with battery companies. The bottom line is if countries are to meet the targets set under the Paris Agreement to curb carbon emissions, 20 % of all road vehicles should be electric by 2030.
How to make transport in Africa safe, sustainable & accessible for women?
Women are an important part of the transport market in Africa. They rely on mass transport to get to work, carry goods, access services and transport their children. Yet while transport can make up more than 20 % of their expenses, the suffer from often overcrowded, unreliable, and a poorly regulated transport services.
Experts Agree Linking Energy with Increased Agricultural Productivity Can Bring Positive Change
While drought in Southern Africa looks likely to enter its second year, and Zimbabwe’s economic isolation remains in place, there is no doubt that the country continues to face tough times. Yet, when I meet with the local people in rural communities, their resilience and strength, is a reminder of the great potential and why we need to continue to believe in them. Small scale agriculture remains the backbone of the economy. With the potential of off grid renewable energy, combined with the potential multi-purpose batteries, provides an exciting opportunity for Africa to overcome many of the challenges that confront small scale farmers
