Electric motorcycles have been deployed across Kenya in a pilot project to help the country combat air pollution.

Ninety-nine motorcycles were delivered to project participants at Karura Forest, Kenya Power and Lighting Company, Power Hive and Kisumu county. In the Karura forest, near Nairobi, 49 of the electric motorcycles will be used by rangers to stop poaching and watch over visitors.

The bikes were provided by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) as part of its Electric Mobility programme, which promotes the switch from gas-powered to electric vehicles. The pilot, which will last from six months to a year, is being replicated in Ethiopia and Uganda as well as in Asia, according to Modern Diplomacy.

In Kenya, the number of registered motorcycles, most often used as taxis (boda bodas), was expected to grow to more than 5 million by 2020.

‘Shifting to electric bikes in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and elsewhere will reduce costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as create jobs,’ Joyce Msuya, UNEP deputy executive director, said at the event to hand over the new vehicles.

16 March 2021
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