Afreximbank just bet $75M on electric motorcycles. Africa isn't manufacturing batteries yet but we're training 10,000 technicians, building 1,200 swap stations, and proving the model works. This is what infrastructure looks like before 'Made in Africa' becomes real.
"Right now, we're like a chef who can cook a five-star meal but doesn't own the kitchen yet. We're assembling 60,000 bikes, training thousands of technicians, converting major fleets. But the batteries? Those still come from Shenzhen. We're building the restaurant while someone else owns the supply chain. For now."
East African EV entrepreneur, Nairobi
THE GIST:
Africa isn't manufacturing electric motorcycle batteries yet. Or motors. Or controllers. Right now, 60–70% of each bike's value is still imported, mostly from China.
But here's what Africa IS building:
60,000 bikes assembled across Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Benin, and Togo.
1,200 battery-swapping stations operating in six countries, with 1,000 more coming to Lagos alone by early 2026.
Spiro Academy in Nairobi training 10,000+ young Kenyans in EV maintenance, battery tech, and assembly, an 18-month program partnering with Technical University of Kenya and India University for curriculum development.
And the ripple effects are real:
Jumia converted nearly 50% of its Kampala delivery fleet to Spiro bikes. Uber is rolling out 3,000 electric motorcycles in Kenya. Glovo riders in Lagos and Nairobi are switching. Solar-powered swap stations are going up in Abuja. Fintech platforms are launching pay-as-you-go EV financing. Micro-insurance products are being designed for battery-swapping riders.
Afreximbank's FEDA ( Funds for Export Development Africa) just committed $75 million to accelerate this not because Africa has mastered EV manufacturing, but because the foundational infrastructure is being built right now. Assembly lines. Swap networks. Skills transfer. Proof of concept.
"Made in Africa" isn't here yet. But the path toward it is being paved.
The question isn't whether Africa can build a fully localized EV value chain today. The question is: What are we learning along the way, and are we building the foundations for what comes next?
WHY IT MATTERS:
💼 For Founders:
Right now: If you're in logistics or delivery, switching to EVs cuts operating costs by 35%, and the infrastructure is scaling fast. Jumia's Kampala fleet is nearly 50% electric. Uber Kenya is deploying 3,000 e-motorcycles. Glovo riders are making the switch.
Ripple opportunities:
- Energy: Spiro is building solar-powered swap stations (Abuja already operational). If you're in solar, grid integration, or second-life battery storage, this creates demand.
- Finance: Pay-as-you-go EV leasing is expanding via fintech and microfinance. Asset-backed lending using bikes as collateral is emerging (Afreximbank already provided $50M in asset-backed debt).
- Insurance: Micro-insurance for EV riders is launching, tailored for battery-swapping ownership models.
- Retail: Some swap stations double as retail nodes (airtime, basic goods) while riders wait.
What to watch: Are local suppliers emerging? Right now, 30% of value is sourced locally (frames, plastics, helmets, logistics). Spiro says they'll hit 70% in two years. If that happens, supply chain opportunities explode, component manufacturers, charging station builders, parts distributors. If it doesn't, this stays Chinese tech with African assembly.
💰 For Investors:
The numbers: $23 million revenue in 2024. Projected $200 million in 2025. That's 8.7x growth, but it's not profitable yet. The business model is only "viable with scale and ongoing financing." There's a high capex for swap stations, assembly facilities, and fleet expansion.
The bet: If Spiro reaches 100,000 bikes and 3,000+ swap stations, the network effects start compounding, daily battery swaps drive steady recurring revenue, large fleet conversions create sticky, long-term customers, and the expanding infrastructure becomes a defensible moat that’s hard for competitors to replicate
The risk: Right now, 60–70% of Spiro’s components are imported, with batteries alone making up 35–40% of total bike cost and those come entirely from China. That keeps margins thin until local sourcing ramps up. Profitability also hinges on utilization, if swap stations sit idle or riders outside cities can’t access them, the entire unit economics collapse.
Who's capturing value? Spiro operates through pan-African and Dubai holding structures. Its shareholders mix African capital (Afreximbank/FEDA holds about 35–40%) and foreign investors (Indian and Dubai-based funds). The result? Jobs and assembly activity stay local, but profits are shared across borders; Africa gets the factories, while part of the financial upside flows offshore.
The test: Watch whether Spiro announces a battery manufacturing partnership with DRC, Zimbabwe, or South African lithium/cobalt miners by 2026. That's when we'll know if this becomes real industrialization or stays a Chinese supply chain with African distribution.
For Professionals:
Jobs being created now:
- Spiro Academy is training 10,000+ young Kenyans in EV maintenance, battery systems, assembly, and entrepreneurship.
- Programs include an 18-month graduate track, a one-year EV specialization, and certifications for mechanics without formal education.
- Partners include the Technical University of Kenya and Flemming Technical Institute.
- Swap station operations are opening up contracts for local builders, electricians, and installers.
- Fleet operations need maintenance crews, logistics coordinators, and charging-station managers, new roles for an emerging EV economy.
The skills transfer reality:
These aren’t just factory-floor jobs. Spiro’s programs teach technician-level repair, diagnostics, and entrepreneurship, empowering people to run independent service centers. Local engineers are already helping adapt bikes for African roads, with R&D hubs in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Nigeria.
The gap: African engineers are shaping the bikes’ local fit, but the core designs still come from India, China, and Dubai.
Battery manufacturing? Still pending, though talks with DRC and Zimbabwe miners hint at early groundwork.
Motor production? Not yet happening in Africa.
The promise: If local sourcing hits 70% by 2027, that means battery factories, motor plants, component suppliers, thousands of manufacturing jobs, not just assembly. If it stays at 30%, we're simply learning to bolt together imported parts, not build the value chain.
THE BIG PICTURE:
Africa has been here before.
In the 2000s, mobile phone adoption exploded. Africa assembled zero phones, but we built telecom infrastructure, trained technicians, created distribution networks. A decade later, African startups built phone operating systems (KaiOS), payment platforms (M-Pesa), and apps that changed the continent (Jumia, Flutterwave).
In the 2020s, the pandemic exposed our vaccine dependency. Africa manufactured <1% of vaccines. But now: Five regional hubs (South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria), with mRNA capability, local R&D are in progress
In 2025, electric mobility is scaling. 60,000 bikes assembled. 1,200 swap stations operational. $100 million raised. Governments are rolling out pro-EV policies. Major companies are converting fleets.
The pattern: Africa starts by assembling, then localizing, then innovating. The question is how fast we move through those stages.
What needs to happen for "Made in Africa" to be real:
- Battery manufacturing: Partner with lithium/cobalt miners in DRC, Zimbabwe, or South Africa to build cell production. (Exploratory discussions are happening, but no factories announced yet.)
- Motor production: Build traction motor plants in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda. (Assembly and adaptation are happening now; full manufacturing doesn't exist yet.)
- Local R&D: African engineers designing next-gen bikes for African roads, not just adapting Chinese/Indian designs. (Some adaptation work ongoing, but core design still happens elsewhere.)
- Standards development: African governments creating local EV certification standards, not just adopting Chinese/European ones. (National harmonization underway via Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria with AfCFTA support.)
- Supply chain depth: Not just Spiro, but 10+ African component suppliers. (Currently ~30% local sourcing; target is 70% by 2027.)
The timeline:
Spiro says 70% local sourcing by 2027. That's the test.
If they hit it, this becomes real industrialization, battery factories, motor plants, engineering jobs, regional supply chains, IP development. The whole AfCFTA dream.
If they don't, it's assembly with extra steps, Africa remains the final stop on someone else's supply chain, learning to bolt together imported components while calling it "Made in Africa."
THE BOTTOM LINE:
"Made in Africa" isn't here yet. But the infrastructure being built today is the foundation.
The wins right now:
✅ 60,000 bikes assembled on the continent
✅ 10,000+ young people being trained in EV tech
✅ Major companies converting fleets (Jumia 50% in Kampala, Uber 3,000 bikes in Kenya)
✅ Solar-powered swap stations going live
✅ New industries emerging (EV financing, micro-insurance, energy infrastructure)
✅ 35% cost savings for riders who've switched
The gap still to close:
❌ 60–70% of components imported (especially batteries, 35–40% of cost, 100% Chinese)
❌ No African battery cell manufacturing yet
❌ No African motor production yet
❌ Profits split between African and foreign shareholders
❌ Profitability still dependent on scale and ongoing financing
The test: Can Africa move from 30% local value to 70% by 2027?
If yes, we're building industrial capacity, jobs, skills, IP, regional supply chains. If no, we're just the assembly line for someone else's value chain.
We are on the lookout for Spiro announcing a battery factory partnership by 2026. That's when we'll know if "Made in Africa" is coming soon, or just a slogan.
READ. REFLECT. RETHINK.
Let's be clear about what's happening here.
Ten years ago, electric motorcycles in Africa were a fantasy. Five years ago, they were a pilot project. Today, 60,000 are on the road, and Jumia just converted half its Kampala fleet.
Ten years ago, battery-swapping was something you read about in Shenzhen tech blogs. Today, there are 1,200 stations across six African countries, and Lagos is building 1,000 more.
Ten years ago, "EV technician" wasn't a job in Africa. Today, Spiro Academy is training 10,000 young Kenyans in skills that didn't exist here before.
Yes, 60% of the components are still imported. Yes, the batteries come from China. Yes, we're not "there" yet.
But "there" isn't the starting line. "There" is the finish line.
And right now, Africa is running the race, training people, building infrastructure, converting fleets, proving the model works, creating the demand that will justify localizing the supply chain.
This is what industrialization looks like when it's actually happening. Not perfect. Not complete. But moving.
Mobile money didn't start with Africa owning the telecom infrastructure. It started with Africa using what we had to build what we needed and then innovating beyond what anyone thought possible.
Electric mobility will follow the same path.
So yes, the batteries are imported. For now. But the bikes are assembled here. The technicians are trained here. The infrastructure is built here. The fleets are converting here. The innovation is happening here.
And when the battery factories come, and they will, they'll come because we built the market first.
That's not a shortcut. That's strategy.
Stay sharp,
The Decode Daily Team
📊 SOURCES:
Afreximbank Investment - $75M from FEDA (Afreximbank)
Spiro Academy - Training 10,000+ Kenyans, partnerships with Technical University of Kenya, India University (Spiro Academy, Nation Africa)
Fleet Conversions - Jumia 50% Kampala fleet (Jumia/Spiro Partnership), Uber 3,000 bikes Kenya (Automart Africa)
Solar Infrastructure - Spiro's solar-powered swap station Abuja (LinkedIn)
Local Sourcing - 30% current, 70% target by 2027 (TechCrunch)
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