Ethiopia has inaugurated its biggest electric vehicle factory in Debre Berhan in the Amhara region. The inauguration is the first part of the country’s ambitious strategy to turn it into a leading player in green mobility in Africa.
Details
The new factory was built by a local entrepreneur, Belayneh Kinde, at a cost of more than $52 million. It is expected to produce around 1,000 cars a year.
Between The Lines
In 2020, Ethiopian businessman and Olympian Haile Gebreselassie started an assembly plant to produce electric cars locally for the first time in partnership with South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company.
However, the partner fizzled within a year after it faced constant shortages of foreign currency to import needed raw materials.
The Big Picture
The Ethiopian government is facing economic challenges and has limited financial capacity which has delayed the completion of some government priority projects including a $5 billion Grand Renaissance Dam, which would help upgrade the electricity network needed to power a rising influx of EVs.
Zoom Out
Ethiopia’s 10-year Perspective Development Plan calls on the government to import 4,800 electric buses and 148,000 electric cars.
Last year, Ethiopia banned the import of non-electric cars and offered a new tax exemption for the import of electric cars as part of a green legacy project initiated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Transport announced last month that it had managed to bring in more than 100,000 electric cars and built 60 charging stations across Addis Ababa.
Source: Semafor
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