Investors evaluate the cost of building chargers

June 08, 2025

Dear subscriber, this is a prototype. Please help us with feedback and tips. Just press reply.

It will take years for African charging companies to break even due to the low electric vehicle penetration, said stakeholders during the recently concluded Enlit Africa 2025 summit held in South Africa. “We need about 100,000 vehicles on the road before any of us will see real profitability,” said Winstone Jordaan (see picture), the director of charging firm GridCars.  

  • The cost of building an EV charging station mainly depends on the type and number of chargers, land, labour, and utilities. In Kenya, one station cost electricity utility Kenya Power Ksh6.5 million ($50,300). In South Africa, it costs between $28,000 and $112,000 and in Egypt, it starts from about $14,000.   

  • While the majority of EV owners charge their vehicles at home, public fast chargers are critical to the electric mobility ecosystem. They help ease range anxiety, but low demand and high installation costs are deterring investment. Increased EV sales could enable charging companies to become profitable faster. 

  • Our take: Investment in charging infrastructure should be a collaborative effort among owners of real estate such as fuel stations, hotels, malls, restaurants, hospitals and schools… Read more (2 min)

Kenya’s capital Nairobi is steadily embracing clean transportation, with dozens of electric buses now operating on several city routes. These eco-friendly vehicles, which run on green energy, are praised for offering a more comfortable ride for both passengers and drivers. This week, we focus on Geoffrey Machio, a Kenyan electric bus driver.  

  • He knows electric buses are gaining traction in Africa, including in Ethiopia, South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria as a sustainable alternative to traditional diesel buses. They are cheaper to run, hence economical for both bus owners and commuters. 

  • Mr. Machio began driving an electric bus purchased from BasiGo last year after undergoing a one-week training program. At the time, electric buses were still few in number, but have since grown significantly. 

  • To read more of Mr. Machio’s story… click here (2 min)

Uganda’s eBee is emerging as a pioneer in the electric bicycle space by offering a fresh approach to urban mobility. Hakim Owiny, the ESG Manager at eBee Uganda, says the company is bridging infrastructure, affordability and social equity gaps, with over 350 electric bicycles already deployed across cities like Kampala and Jinja.

  • “Electric bicycles are ideal for African cities, they help riders manage long distances and hilly terrain while dodging traffic and cutting costs,” he says. Yet barriers persist, roads are still vehicle-centric, and bicycles remain stigmatised as ‘poor man’s transport’. 

  • Mr. Owiny warns that ESG awareness remains confined to boardrooms and must be translated into local, relatable terms. Rather than compete with other e-bike startups, eBee prefers collaboration, seeing the true challenge as outdated planning systems and policy inertia.

  • Read our full interview… here (3 min)

Yuma Sasaki (orange tie), founder of EV firm Dodai attending an event in Ethiopia

Events

🗓️ Attend Solar Energy, EVs and Hybrid Vehicles Conference in Zimbabwe (Jun 27)

🗓️ Register for Mobility Tech Conference in Hong Kong (July 15)

🗓️ Book your spot at Mobility Live Conference in South Africa (Oct 15)

Jobs

👨🏻‍💻 Join BasiGo as a Senior Full Stack Developer (Kenya)

👷🏻‍♂️ Apply for the Production Manager role at Zembo (Uganda)

🚗 Become a QC fleet officer at MAX (Nigeria)

Various 

🔌 TotalEnergies accelerates rollout of E-bike charging stations

⚡ Songa Mobility unveils its 3rd generation e-trike

🔋 Morocco will be among five countries with an EV battery production chain

Seen on LinkedIn 

Larissa Venter, CEO of Zero Carbon Holdings, says, “We don’t use the grid at all. The entire development of one site - is to cater for EV drivers traveling in South Africa, to be able to charge their EV, without straining the grid, and without worrying about the grid impacting whether they can charge or not. There are no other charging stations.”