The government in Rwanda and partners are looking to launch a joint program aimed at encouraging local taxi-moto operators to go electric, an official source revealed.
During the implementation phase, commercial motorcycle operators who wish to retrofit their bikes to environmentally friendly taxi-motos will be facilitated to access bank loans for the conversion, the head of the company spearheading the effort has said.
According to Donald Kabanda, the Chief Executive of Rwanda Electricity Mobility Ltd, the move is in line with a national effort to gradually phase out the use of traditional petrol or diesel-powered internal combustion engine (ICE) motorcycles..
The engine will convert them into electric machines, with a view to reducing air-polluting emissions as well as cut fuel costs, according to him.
“The cost will be covering two easily swappable batteries as well as the retrofitting process, which is replacing the petrol or diesel-run engine and accessories, including the chain and the exhaust pipe with electric parts” Kabanda said.
There are about 46,000 taxi-motos in Rwanda with 26,000 of them operating in the city of Kigali.
Currently, there are some 120 e-motorcycles on Rwandan roads, half of them paid for in installments.
Climate change experts argue that replacing combustion motorbikes with electric ones is one of the strongest bets to reduce CO2 emissions and help improve people’s quality of life.
CU/as/APA