Who In Africa is Ready for EVs?
New data shows a continent divided into emulators, innovators, and stragglers
As the world races towards electric mobility, Africa stands at a critical juncture. Which African nations are poised to lead this transformation, and which risk falling behind? My colleagues and I at the Energy for Growth Hub recently released a beta version of the first Africa EV Readiness and Impact Index, evaluating the preparedness for and potential benefits of EV adoption across more than 48 African countries. We just published a new piece that uncovers the diverse EV adoption trajectories emerging across the continent. Here are the key takeaways:
A Tale of Three Africas:
Emulators: Countries like Seychelles, South Africa, and Morocco are following global EV trends.
Innovators: Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are among a growing set pioneering unique local solutions.
Stragglers: The majority still face significant hurdles.
Surprising Leaders: 12 African countries show high EV readiness, with some unexpected frontrunners like Seychelles and Mauritius outpacing more widely discussed markets.
Innovation Hubs: East African countries are fostering vibrant EV startup ecosystems, particularly in the two-wheeler segment.
Readiness vs. Impact: Interestingly, countries with high EV readiness often show lower potential impact scores (due to factors such as low shares of clean power generation and less severe air quality issues), while many less-ready countries could see significant benefits from EV adoption.
Challenges Remain: Even leading countries face hurdles like limited access to finance, grid reliability issues, and small market size.
Countries to Watch: Keep an eye on South Africa's power sector crisis and auto industry transition, Morocco's EV manufacturing ambitions, scalability of the East African innovation model, Ethiopia’s abrupt transition, and Nigeria's untapped potential.
For more on this Africa EV Readiness and Index project, please check out our interactive data visualization tool, a scene-setting article published in the journal Science that gives additional context into the African EV data gap, a brief memo summarizing key takeaways from the Index, and the latest piece on country-level EV adoption patterns that is summarized in this post. The Index is still in beta, and we’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback to help improve it ahead of a full launch next year. Let us know what you think.