Africa’s electric motorcycle imports from China jump 180%

From the newsletter 

African countries imported 266,026 electric motorcycles from China in the first six months of 2025, according to official government data. This marks an increase of 180% from 94,954 units imported in the first half of 2024. China remains the primary source of electric motorcycles, but other Asian countries like India, Thailand and Vietnam are adding volume too. 

• The half-year imports have already exceeded the 244,716 electric motorcycles that were imported from China in the whole of 2024. Should demand in the second half of the year mirror the first half’s performance, imports will cross the half a million unit mark for the first time.  

• The 266,026 electric motorcycles were valued at $77.145 million, translating to an average price of $289.99 per unit. This is a steady increase from an average price of $276.7 per unit (94,954 units valued at $26.274 million) in the same period last year. 

More details

• The data includes fully-built electric motorcycles and electric scooters, which are cheaper, thus lowering the average unit cost. While scooters are prevalent in North African countries like Egypt, Algeria and Morocco, motorcycles are prevalent in East, West and Southern Africa. 

• Egypt was the largest importer, shipping in 99,933 units from China during the half-year period. This is more than double the 34,782 units imported by Morocco, which emerged second. Other top importers were Nigeria (25,778), Algeria (16,322) and Kenya which closed the top five with 11,458 units. 

• Rwanda emerged sixth, bringing in 11,413 units from China, followed by Tunisia (9,932), South Africa (9,040), Uganda (8,054) and Ghana (4,537). Other top importers include Sudan, which brought in 3,968 units, Ivory Coast which imported 3,705 units, and Ethiopia and Tanzania, which shipped in 3,670 and 3,476 units respectively. 

• On the flip side, Eritrea imported only two electric motorcycles from China in the half-year period to June, the least of any country. It was followed by The Gambia and Mauritania, which imported three and nine units respectively. Other smallest importers were Burundi (11), Gabon (22), Sierra Leone (24), Equatorial Guinea (35), Malawi (37) and Guinea Bissau (40).  

• More than 90% of electric motorcycles sold in Africa are imported, mainly from China and India. While local assembly is increasing, particularly in countries like Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Rwanda, the majority of electric motorbikes and battery packs are still sourced from overseas, including newer markets like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.  

• Local assembly is helping electric motorcycle companies to control the quality of their products. Imported Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) and Completely-Knocked Down (CKD) kits also often attract lower taxes in the majority of African countries compared to fully-built units, which helps lower the cost of assembled motorcycles. 

Our take

• Imports will likely cross 500,000 units in 2025, but margins will tighten. As demand surges, the average price per unit is slowly rising, indicating either a shift to higher-quality models or increased shipping and input costs. This could exert upward pressure on prices, as has happened for petrol motorcycles in recent years. 

• While China dominates, countries like India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia are increasingly shipping competitively priced models to Africa. This diversification will give African importers and assemblers more leverage in negotiations and broaden the technology base.

• Increasing demand for electric motorcycles gives companies in countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda an opportunity to intensify local assembly to benefit from tax incentives on SKD/CKD kits, reduce import dependency, and build domestic capacity. This may also prompt more Chinese and Indian brands to set up localized assembly partnerships.