Why EV24 bought car listing firm Koto

October 05, 2025

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AfriCar Group, the parent company of the online EV seller EV24.africa, acquired Koto, the leading online car listing platform in Ivory Coast in August for an undisclosed sum of money. In an interview with Mobility Rising, Axel Peyriere, the company’s co-founder and CEO, revealed how Koto’s acquisition helps to seal a loophole in Africa’s vehicle sales market. 

  • Unclear EV pricing information fuels hesitation and mistrust among potential buyers, says Mr Peyriere. Koto acts as a benchmark for new car prices, addressing a crucial gap in Africa’s auto sales market, he suggests. 

  • EV24.africa was the first cross-border online platform dedicated to buying EVs on the continent.  

  • To read the full conversation… click here (4 min )

Asset lender Watu Credit has signed a deal with Chinese-owned electric motorcycle company TankVolt to finance EVs in Africa. Less than 10% of EVs on the continent are bought with cash. To boost sales, manufacturers are partnering with various financiers, such as asset lenders, banks, credit cooperatives and digital lenders to attract buyers.

  • TankVolt, owned by China’s Transsion Holdings, operates in Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania, some of Watu’s key markets. The company is also in Ethiopia and is eyeing further expansion across Africa.  

  • Asset financiers like Watu often require a deposit, and then customers pay daily, weekly or monthly instalments over a set period of time, often between 18 months and 60 months.  

  • Our take: TankVolt may well partner with more lenders to give its customers options… Read more (2 min)

Electric motorcycles and bicycles make up 95.2% of electric vehicles registered in Kenya, according to a report published by the Electric Mobility Association of Kenya (EMAK). The group documents a total of 9,144 registered EVs in the country by December 2024, out of which 8,712 units were two-wheelers. There were only 247 buses, minibuses and passenger cars.  

  • The nascent two-wheeler industry has attracted more than a dozen companies who are now competing for a rapidly growing consumer segment.  

  • Stiff competition in the sector is forcing some EV companies to specialise. First-mover Ampersand is transitioning from electric motorcycle sales to focus on the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) business. 

  • Our take: Expect electric motorcycle sales to skyrocket as prices continue to fall… Read more (2 min)

Experts engage in a panel at the Smarter Mobility Africa event in South Africa

Events

📅 Attend Auto Expo in Tanzania (Nov 5)

📅 Plan for Auto Equip in Nigeria (Nov 11)

📅 Register for Africa EV Mobility Expo (Dec 4)

Jobs

🗣️ Become a Communication Manager at Spiro (Rwanda)

📊 Join Dodai as a Marketing Specialist (Ethiopia)

👨🏻‍💻 Apply for Software Engineer’s role at Solar Taxi (Ghana)

Various 

🚛 Ethiopia bans importation of diesel powered trucks

⚡ EPRA to remove caps on power consumption to lift EVs uptake in Kenya

📜 Tunisia to introduce new EV policies next year

Seen on LinkedIn 

Fredrick Mutitika, Value Added Service Lead at BasiGo, says, “Right now, the global EV conversation is dominated by high-performance, premium-priced models. For Africa, this is like trying to sell a flagship iPhone to a market still yearning for its first internet connection.”