Every evening, Anne Kituku queues at a streetside bus park in central Nairobi, waiting for a bus to take her to her home in the eastern part of the Kenyan capital. Nearby, a rainbow of neon-colored matatus – minibuses – emblazoned with graffiti art and blasting loud music quickly fill and depart in clouds of gritty exhaust, but Ms. Kituku waits until a sleek white electric bus silently glides up beside her.
For Ms. Kituku, who makes 16,000 Kenyan shillings (about $123) monthly working as a cleaner, the decision to take the electric bus comes down to cost. The fare is 10 to 20 Kenyan shillings ($0.08 to $0.15) less than their gas-powered counterparts depending on the route, a savings that adds up significantly over the course of a month.
Fuel prices in Kenya have risen nearly 40% since 2022, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, more recently, the war in Iran. The latest surge, in turn, has pushed matatu operators to raise fares by 25%. In mid-May protests flared in Nairobi amid a public transport strike over record high fuel prices.
Why We Wrote This
Kenya has pledged that all new car sales by 2040 will be electric vehicles. But the earliest group to embrace EVs here are drivers of the country’s iconic motorcycle taxis – the boda bodas.
However, over the last four years, electric alternatives have also quietly begun appearing on Nairobi’s streets. According to government figures, between 2022 and 2025, the number of EVs in the country rose from less than 800 to nearly 25,000, a 32-fold increase.
The rise of electric motorcycles
Kenya – like much of Africa – is in an early phase of adopting electric vehicles. Its government was one of the few on the continent to sign an international pledge to have 100% of new vehicle sales fully electric by 2040. Analysts see transport electrification in Kenya – and Nairobi in particular – as a key way to both lower costs for consumers and help address urban pollution.
Government policies waiving import duties on parts and offering cheaper electricity tariffs for EV charging are speeding their adoption.
Some researchers have suggested that transforming the informal transport sector in Kenya – the matatus that Ms. Kituku takes and boda boda motorcycle taxis that shuttle many commuters around town – is one of the best ways to shift toward electrification.
Indeed, unlike in Europe and North America, where cars dominate the electric market, in Kenya, two-wheelers are king. At least 90% of registered EVs here are motorbikes, and they now make up 40% of all boda bodas registered on the ride-hailing app Bolt.
For Jacob Sikunyi, who makes his living as a boda boda driver, the decision to switch was obvious. He says he now spends one-third as much on charging as he previously did on petrol. That makes it possible for him to charge 10% to 20% less for the same ride.
Still, the cost savings are not as straightforward as they might appear. The purchase price of Mr. Sikunyi’s electric motorbike was twice the cost of one with a combustion engine, an expense invisible to his customers.
A cost-benefit analysis
The cost of electric vehicles has been a barrier to their adoption worldwide. In the United States, for instance, new EVs can cost thousands of dollars more than their combustion engine competitors. But lower-cost electric cars, particularly those made in China, are starting to change that.
China now has the world’s largest market share of EVs, and Southeast Asian countries that import those cheaper Chinese vehicles are some of the world’s fastest adopters. Most of Kenya’s electric vehicles come from China – although rather than fully built cars, the country tends to import “kits” to build those vehicles locally.
EV proponents point out that even if there is a higher up-front sticker price, it’s less expensive to maintain and fuel an electric.
That can be a double-edged sword for entrepreneurs such as Mr. Sikunyi.
“People already believe that electric is cheaper,” he explains. He says that if he tries to offer a fare comparable to what the customer would pay for a standard boda boda, they just wave him off. In the case of buses, the difference in upfront costs is even greater.
George Githinji, who operates a fleet of electric matatus, said the price of those buses was about seven times as much as what he would pay for combustion engine buses. Though electric bus manufacturers here offer leasing models that lower the upfront costs, Mr. Githinji says the difference is still stark. Even with savings on fuel and maintenance, he estimates the operating costs of electric and combustion engine buses are similar.
“The drop is basically negligible,” he explains.
Charging is also becoming costlier as more electric buses take to the roads without a proportionate growth in charging infrastructure. Electric buses cost 73 shillings (about $0.56) per kilometer to charge, up by 16% since 2022.
And unlike a petrol tank, which can be filled in minutes, bus batteries take as much as two hours to charge.
But Mr. Githinji and other electric bus operators say they aren’t depending only on lower prices to attract customers. The buses are also newer, quieter, and have more predictable fares and schedules. A smartphone app also allows riders to pay fares before boarding and see exactly when their bus will arrive.
“We are investing in the efficiency and comfort because we’re not sure it’ll be possible to offer better prices for long,” explains Mr. Githinji. “It may soon be all that’s keeping customers.”