Gov’t sets up EV charging station at Amber House

The e-mobility sector will be private sector-led with the government supporting the policy aspects.

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Energy has put up two public electric vehicle charging stations in Kampala. The stations located at Amber House along Kampala are part of efforts to support the electric mobility industry in Uganda.

Irene Bateebe, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary said putting up such infrastructure is also part of the efforts to promote using electricity for transportation.

“We are looking at it in two ways. Supporting the vehicles but also supporting the three-wheeler or the boda bodas. So this endeavor is not just about government. We are entering partnerships with the private sector to invest in electric mobility,” said Bateebe

Apart from the charging stations for the boda boda along Masaka-Gulu highways, Bateebe told Uganda Radio Network that the Ministry has entered several agreements with the private sector like Bodawerk now renamed GoGo Electric and Zembo to promote charging stations for the two and three-wheeler transportation.

She said generally the idea is that the e-mobility sector will be private sector-led with the government supporting the policy aspects.

Bateebe says the drive toward electric mobility is a reality and that it is important that Ugandans begin preparing for it because some aspects of it are already here. “We can’t run away from what is happening globally. Because the other day we were in China and 40% of their fleet is now in electric mode that speaks to the influx we are about to see,” she said.

Policy support toward E-mobility

“We are seeing globally that the electric cars are on the increase. Also this has led to an increase in demand of critical minerals so we are having a rush. And that is why our policies have been reformed to ensure that we maximize value,” she explained.

In March 2023, the Ministry of Works and Transport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with an electric mobility Spiro, part of the Equitane Group to enable it to deploy more than 140,000 electric two-wheelers in the Ugandan market over the next five years and over 3000 recharging stations.

SPIRO was expected to supply electric bikes specially designed and adapted for the African market and Ugandan terrain. It was anticipated that these types of two-wheelers would help boda-boda riders save up to 40% of their current daily costs.

Shegun Adjadi Bakari, the CEO of SPIRO said they would introduce charging stations that will charge the bikes in less than three minutes In the 2024/2025 financial year budget, e-vehicles were exempted from the 18 per cent value-added tax, stamp duty, and income tax. Manufacturers or importers of electric vehicle batteries, charging equipment, and bodies will also benefit from the exemptions.

Kiira Kayoola Bus Initiatives The government continues to prioritize local manufacture of electric buses and cars under the Kiira Motors Electric Vehicles. 27 buses had been manufactured by early June 2024.

Some of those buses were driven from the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) manufacturing plant in Nakasongola to Jinja where the Kiira Manufacturing plant is located.