Kemeriya Mehammed Abduraheman set her sights on an electric car four months ago, joining more than 100,000 Ethiopians who have made the green switch.
While electric vehicle (EV) sales in Africa accounted for only 1 percent of the global market last year, according to the International Energy Agency, Ethiopia wants to change that.
In a world first, the Ethiopian government last year banned the import of gasoline and diesel vehicles, partly for green reasons, but also to help wean the country off increasingly expensive fuel.
Photo: AFP
Many welcomed the shift.
“I was tired of waiting in line to fill up,” Abduraheman, a 36-year-old development consultant, said in Addis Ababa, where gasoline queues can stretch for hundreds of meters and eat up half of a day.
Bareo Hassen Bareo, head of the Ethiopian Department of Transport and Logistics’ green mobility division, said there were already 115,000 EVs — 7 percent of vehicles — on the road.
“In 10 years, we will have more than 500,000,” he said.
However, the vehicles remain hugely expensive, especially in a country where about 40 percent of the population lives on less than US$3 a day, according to the World Bank.
Abduraheman paid about US$34,000 to buy a model from Chinese brand BYD, describing it as a “long-term” decision.
“I’ve been able to save on costs, I’ve been able to save on time, in terms of not lining up for gas,” she said.
The landlocked country depends on the ports of neighboring Djibouti and often faces fuel shortages. Abduraheman used to spend about 4,000 birr (US$27) each month on fuel, but now spends the equivalent of US$4 on charging.
EVs are increasingly visible in the capital, mostly Chinese brands.
Ethiopians have even glimpsed an outlandish Tesla Cybertruck, which retails for over US$100,000, crawling through Addis Ababa’s streets.
The city’s buses are also electric.
Economic analyst Samson Berhane said the EV transition had been “more successful than initially anticipated.”
“This can be attributed to the country’s rapidly growing middle class and the surging demand for new vehicles,” he said.
While charging stations have mushroomed across the capital, he said, “many consumers have taken the initiative to install chargers at home and at work.”
The rapid transition has not come without challenges.
There are reports of shortages of EV parts and qualified mechanics. There are only about 100 charging stations in the whole country, meaning drivers cannot plan long journeys outside the capital.
“We need more than 2,300,” Bareo said.
High prices for EVs are also a pressing issue, which the Ethiopian government hopes to counter by tempting foreign manufacturers to produce locally.
The unreliable electricity supply is also a worry, although the Ethiopian government hopes the inauguration of a massive mega-dam last week — expected to double the country’s electrical capacity — would facilitate the green transition.
It cannot come soon enough: Near Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, dozens of EV drivers wait to use chargers operated by the national operator Ethio Telecom.
“It has been four days since the power went out in my area, so I am charging it here,” said one customer, Semagn Getnet.
“Electric cars are good and pleasing, but there are some problems,” he added.
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