The Road Less Polluted: Africa's Path from Pollution to Progress

There's an unsettling sense of helplessness, desolation, and despair when you think about the state of environmental and climate efforts on the continent. Picture plastic bags and bottles strewn across every conceivable space corners, bridges, roadsides, you name it. Then there are those ancient cars, relics that have long outlived their glory days in America and Europe, only to find a second life on African roads. These vehicles, seemingly destined for the scrapheap, continue to chug along, carrying living, breathing passengers. But I digress...

Imagine the thick, black soot billowing from the exhausts of these battered cars, each one patched up by overworked and under-qualified mechanics desperate to make a living to feed the growing family just three kids shy of a full football roster! But again, I digress…

When it comes to electric vehicle adoption globally, one might think Africa’s silver lining is that the so-called 'white man' will have to offload their less elderly diesel vehicles, providing the continent with a fresh influx of slightly less aged cars to help cut down our emissions. This seems like the only feasible benefit given our ongoing battles with electricity supply and infrastructure. But, as it turns out, and I’m not often wrong, I might have jumped the gun on this one.

With initiatives like Spiro in Togo, Rwanda and Benin, Solar Taxi in Ghana, Arc Ride and Roam both in Kenya. Meanwhile, South Africa, Rwanda and Uganda have rolled out the red carpet for EV manufucturers with tax breaks (VAT & Customs). Some governments are even getting creative with solar-powered charging stations in remote areas to alleviate range anxiety.

For this electric dream to become a reality, the government must play a pivotal role by incentivizing adoption and smoothing out the rough patches. With the global EV market share hovering around 14% and the continent's at a mere 1%, the question looms: Can we drive significant progress toward sustainable and greener transportation for Africa’s future?