BY MOSES SSERWANGA
As we usher in the year 2022 amid a resilient Covid 19
pandemic- the 4th industrial revolution is also taking shape-with
the global 9 trillion dollars automotive industry quickly shifting to electric
mobility technologies to mitigate the wide spread effects of climate change largely
as a results of pollution from fossil fuels .
Last
year, over 11 million registered electric vehicles including cars, buses, vans
and trucks were on the road across the world. This number is projected to rise
to 145 million by the end of the decade.
Luckily, for Uganda and Africa in general -this new
global trend for software-enabled forms of E- mobility might – after all-not
leave us behind by several hundred years as the case has been with the past
industrial revolutions.
Several
African countries can be credited for attempting to keep with -in touching distance
with the more advanced world to deploy clean energy -efficient Electric
vehicles and phase out the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars by the year
2030. And this is just eight years away.
Uganda,
South Africa , Morocco, Nigeria and Mauritius are among the early leaders in
the EV market and this is one milestone that should be celebrated across the
African continent . At least for once, Africa is moving in tandem with the rest
of the world to deploy its home grown E-mobility technologies that will help
the continent to have a fair share of the multi-trillion -global car market .
Uganda
together with other EAC regional government should cease the opportunity in the
new year 2022 -to pronounce themselves and offer clear road maps on greening
our cities by promoting clean and efficient E-mobility solutions. Kampala and many other
African cities are ranked among the most polluted in the world due to the
dumping of -end-of-life second hand used vehicles.
Well
as several industrialized- developed nations have set 2030 as the magic year to
phase out Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles ,only one African country –
Cape Verde has taken definitive steps to phase out the ICE cars by 2035 .
In
Uganda -Kiira Motors Corporation the state enterprise and industry captains in
the development of the country’s nascent automotive industry have been at the
forefront of developing E-mobility
technologies that have resulted in the deployment of electric vehicles -the
Kayoola fully electric buses which are now offering shuttle services for
employees of the Uganda Civil Aviation authority .
Subsequently
,a draft Automotive Industry Development
Policy has been crafted to shape the destiny of Uganda’s multi-billion
automotive industry. But unfortunately ,this blue print is yet to be discussed and
passed by cabinet .
This
means that whereas Kiira Motors and other two and three wheeler electric
motorcycle producers like Zembo, Bodawerk and International University of
East Africa (IUEA) have taken the
initiative to ensure that Uganda is at close quarters with other E-mobility
champions across the world-there is still no clear government plan to align the
country to the global mobility trends.
Perhaps
this is the reason why there is relatively slow adoption of EVs in Uganda and
EAC region which still face infrastructural
challenges like the lack of public E-charging systems (apparently KMC has the
only three available E-chargers) in the country if not in the entire EAC
region. And what a pity ! .
What
needs to be done rather urgently
Government
should in the year 2022 pass and implement the Automotive Industry Development
Policy and other attendant laws . There is also the urgent need -for the
development of a national charging infrastructure for Electric mobility and that
should be connected to the national grid at affordable rates to phase out the
high polluting end-of-life vehicles in Uganda by 2030. This should quickly be
done through the Ministries of Energy and Mineral Development and Transport and
Works in collaboration with the Ministry of Science ,Technology and Innovation
in the Office of the President -led by Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa, Gen. Katumba
Wamala and Dr. Monica Musenero ,respectively .
Kiira
Motors and other start-up companies like Zembo, Bodawerk that have worked
against all odds to bring the
electric-car revolution to the streets of Kampala with the production of
electric-vehicle fleet and E- motorcycles
need to be supported by government
by putting in place a robust -conducive environment that will facilitate the fast
development of the country ‘s automotive industry to service the huge vehicle market in the EAC region and
Africa continent .
The writer is a Media
,Communications Consultant and Advocate of the High Court of Uganda
msserwanga@gmail.com
