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- Africa captured the attention of China’s luxury EV firms
Africa captured the attention of China’s luxury EV firms
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 | Chinese luxury electric vehicle manufacturer Avatr Technology has signed a distribution agreement with Egypt's Kasrawy Group, marking its first entry into Africa. Avatr is backed by state-owned Changan Automobile, battery giant CATL and tech group Huawei. It plans to officially launch its brand and introduce its vehicles within the next three months. |
Avatr is the latest Chinese company to enter Africa, underlining China’s growing dominance of the continent’s emerging EV market. BYD is in 17 African countries, while other Chinese EV firms like Xpeng, Dongfeng and Zeekr have already launched in several markets.
The entry into Egypt comes after the company recently launched in the UAE, Qatar and Jordan. Egypt could serve as its launchpad into other African EV markets such as Morocco, South Africa and Ethiopia.
Our take: Chinese firms make luxury EVs at lower prices than competitors… Read more (2 min)
 | Suzuki Global Ventures (SGV), the venture arm of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation, helped Kenya’s used car marketplace Peach Cars to raise $11 million Series A funding in June. The funding round included strategic investments from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Gogin Capital, and The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC). |
Suzuki holds around 40% of India’s passenger car market, and is aiming to grow its presence in Africa. “This investment reflects Suzuki’s broader strategy: Africa is our next India. And Peach Cars is building the infrastructure we want to be part of,” says SGV Senior Director Mike Sarchet.
June saw African mobility investments from eleven institutional investors plus a number of angel investors.
Our take: Investors betting on Africa’s emerging mobility solutions… Read more (2 min)
 | Mobility Rising has collected a total of 14 job listings posted this week across East, West and southern Africa. Uganda and Kenya had the majority of them with five in each country. Hiring companies include Zembo in Uganda, M-Kopa and MojaEV in Kenya. Dodai in Ethiopia, and Ampersand in Rwanda, showing strength of interest in East Africa. |
For the first time in months, MojaEV listed a senior executive role as they aim to start assembling their electric cars in Kenya.
In contrast, West Africa, southern Africa and North Africa saw very few or no listings at all. West Africa, despite being a major market, had just one listing this week, from Proxy E-Mobility in Senegal.
BasiGo’s Rwanda Managing Director Doreen Orishaba speaks at a TED show in Nairobi
Events
🗓️ Register for Manufacturing Indaba event (July 15)
🗓️ Attend AIDC’s Total Productive Maintenance webinar (July 15)
🗓️ Save the date for Kenya’s Public Transport Summit (Nov 26)
Various
💰 Cameroon’s new tax on imported cars takes effect
🤝 Roam, Fortune Credit and GreenMax Capital Group partner to unlock consumer financing
📜 Read about how EVs are driving Kenya’s future
Seen on LinkedIn
Prian Reddy, Senior Programme Manager at C40 Cities, says, “Charge point operators will soon be able to provide auditable proof of the use of green energy for charging through wheeling, despite what the energy mix of the local grid currently is.”