Kofa begins expansion outside home region

November 03, 2025

Dear subscriber,

Battery-as-a-service (BaaS) has become the current go-to model for Africa’s EV firms. Not everyone is convinced. “BaaS isn’t energy trading, its degradation management disguised as growth,” a battery expert told us. The market will have its say. Enjoy the ride!!

Brian Ambani - Editor

Kofa begins expansion outside home region  

Ghanaian EV startup Kofa has embarked on a major expansion strategy, starting with a move into Kenya, its first beyond its home region. The company offers battery swap stations for electric motorcycles, as well as batteries for home and business use. In Kenya, it partners with Autopax for electric bikes and Platcorp for financing. Kofa raised $8.2 million in April. 

  • Like most African countries, Ghana is still a small, early-stage EV market. Expanding regionally will allow Kofa to reach the scale needed to make its battery-swapping network more financially viable. 

  • Battery-as-a-service (BaaS) is emerging as a big business in the Africa EV sector, with investors attracted by good margins. In Kenya, Kofa will face stiff competition from BaaS companies like Spiro, Ampersand and ARC Ride. 

  • Our take: As Spiro has shown, Kofa will need serious capital to make serious inroads in new markets… Read more (2 min)

Egypt and South Africa, two of Africa’s biggest car markets, welcomed four new EV models last month. The Arcfox T1, the premium EV brand of China’s BAIC Group, was introduced in Egypt. It is priced between $16,590 and $17,850. South Africa had the majority of new EV makers. They came from major Chinese automakers BYD, Leapmotor and Changan.

  • Egypt and South Africa are emerging as the leading markets for first introducing new EV models.

  • South Africa is set to draw more international manufacturers next year through a 150% tax deduction on EV manufacturing investments. The incentive was outlined in the Electric Vehicle White Paper taking effect on March 1.

  • Our take: Expect the two countries to lead in attracting new entrants, given their rapidly expanding markets for electric four-wheelers… Read more (2 min)

Four African electric vehicle companies raised a total of $119.5 million funding in October. This is a twelve-fold growth from the $10 million raised in September in a single deal. The funding data was collected by The Big Deal Africa and Mobility Rising. It is the first time that total funding to the EV sector has breached the $100 million mark since February 2024.    

  • Electric two-wheelers continue to dominate the funding landscape, accounting for 87% of the amount raised in October, while battery manufacturing accounted for 13%. 

  • A widening gulf in ticket sizes is becoming apparent in the sector. Spiro is leveraging its large customer base to raise big sums, even as most EV startups struggle to raise single-digit million dollars. 

  • Our take: Given recent growth, larger ticket sizes should be expected more frequently in the coming year… Read more (2 min)

Wheels for Climate team arrives in Namibia as they head to Brazil for COP 30 (Source: Dean Meekson)

Jobs

👩🏻‍💻 Join Greenwheels Africa as a Front-End Developer (Kenya)

📈 Become a Senior Marketing Specialist at Dodai (Ethiopia)

👩🏻‍💼 Apply for Admin Specialist role at Shift EV (Egypt)

Events

📅 Register for Urban Mobility Summit in South Africa (Nov 6)

📅 Plan for Auto Equip in Nigeria (Nov 11)

📅 Book a slot at the Africa EVs Expo in Kenya (Dec 4)

Various 

🔗 Ghana introduces the first electric mobility association

🤝 EVC Point Nigeria signed a deal with EMPAN to introduce Connectvolt API data

🚘 ABC Logistics begins testing of fully electric vehicles for parcel delivery

Seen on LinkedIn 

Karanja Mutahi, Software Engineer at Goldman Sachs, says, “Love that the shift (electric minivans) is happening but are we missing a regulatory/planning opportunity here to demise the 14-seater psv?”