More than 300 participants drawn from the Energy, Finance, and transport sectors, as well as county governments, development partners, and the private sector have confirmed attendance for the E-mobility Conference that is scheduled to take place in Nairobi on 7th and 8th February, 2023.
The conference has been organized by Kenya Power, in partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), to develop a consultative framework that will support a coordinated approach toward the implementation of electric motorization in the country.
Further, the forum will advocate for the amalgamation of policies under development by different stakeholders to ensure that they capture all opportunities presented through the entire e-mobility value chain.
“We are looking forward to meeting and sharing knowledge and experiences on e-mobility with the various stakeholders in this industry. The conference will offer an opportunity to map out the entire e-mobility value chain to drive investments and attract the participation of potential stakeholders to increase the uptake of electric vehicles,” said Kenya Power’s Ag. Managing Director Eng. Geoffrey Muli.
He added: “As a company that is providing a critical service to drive the social economic growth of the nation, we are at the center of electric motorization and therefore we are well positioned to ensure that we provide adequate and reliable electricity supply to spur the growth of this nascent industry.”
Participants at the conference will appraise themselves of available charging infrastructure, technologies, and ancillary services that are available in Kenya and beyond.
They will also explore ways of improving the existing charging infrastructure, review policies and regulations supporting the development of the charging system, and benchmark against regional and global leaders in e-mobility.
The conference comes at a time when electric motorization is gaining traction globally as electric vehicles have been identified as a sustainable source of transport and one of the many initiatives that global and policy leaders are adopting to redress the damage caused by human activity on the environment.
There are an estimated 3.1 million passenger electric vehicles on the road globally, with China accounting for 1.48 million. In Kenya, it is estimated that there are at least 1,000 electric-powered vehicles currently on the country’s roads, ranging from two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers.
Demand is expected to accelerate in the coming years, as car manufacturers increasingly roll out electricity-powered vehicles.
Kenya Power has already announced plans to phase out fossil fuel- powered vehicles and motorbikes from its fleet, in favour of electric-powered ones.
The Company has set aside Shs.40 million in the current financial year to purchase three electric vehicles and to construct three electric vehicle-charging stations within Nairobi, both for the Company’s use and demonstration purposes.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
