In Kenya, 141 of the French oil company TotalEnergies’ 226 service stations are solar-powered. Building on this progress, the group will install three charging stations at its Hurlingham, Dagoretti and Mountain View stations to power the batteries of drivers of electric motorbikes from Kigali, Rwanda-based start-up Ampersand.
Founded in 2019, the start-up assembles and finances electric motorbikes for transporting people and goods. Ampersand currently has 400 electric motorbikes in East Africa and has 35,000 battery exchanges per month. As part of its expansion strategy, the start-up raised $3.5 million from Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) in April 2021. This is an American investment fund that finances companies that contribute to environmental sustainability.
Mobility and clean energy, a marriage of convenience
This partnership between TotalEnergies and Ampersand in Kenya supports the energy transition through the development of green energy and the support of new forms of mobility. “By leveraging TotalEnergies’ incredible experience to expand our network of battery exchange stations, we can grow much faster than we previously thought,” says the company led by Josh Whale.
Read also-KENYA: NopeaRide to charge its electric cabs via solar at SU in Nairobi
Ampersand’s electric motorbikes join other offerings from electric mobility start-ups in Kenya. In the East African country, the Finnish company EkoRent has also launched “Nopea SolarHub” with the Strathmore University (SU) Research Centre in Nairobi. The agreement aims to establish solar-powered charging stations for NopeaRide’s electric cars. The new charging station network will be operational by the third quarter of 2022.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi