Ethiopia, a great electric car champion. The country is the largest African promoter of green transport and has become mainly the first in the world to prohibit the importation of thermal vehicles. More than 100,000 drivers have already changed to electricity.
“I was fed up with the tail to replace,” explains Kemeriya Mehammed Abduraheman, a 36 -year -old consultant, who has long been waiting for long lines in the service stations since he recharged his electric car acquired four months ago in his residence in the capital Addis Abeba.
Reduce hydrocarbon bill
Like her, many Ethiopians have put their gaze in an electric vehicle for more than a year.
Because Ethiopia, in front of a deficit in its balance balance, grew in particular for its hydrocarbon bill, made a radical decision in early 2024: prohibiting the importation of thermal vehicles, with an exception for hybrids.
A measure that goes from environmental voluntarism that Abiy Ahmed’s head of government likes to highlight, the Ethiopian Executive promised to plant billions of trees, with large communication reinforcements.
“Today, we have 115,000 electric cars in circulation” of a total of 1.6 million vehicles, or 7% of the total park, is welcome with AFP Bare Hassen Bare, Minister of State in charge of implementing green mobility in the Ministry of Transportation.
“In 10 years, we will have more than 500,000 electric cars,” he says.
Figures that place Ethiopia, the second most populated country in Africa with 135 million inhabitants, at the forefront of the continent. According to figures from the International Energy Agency, in 2024, the market share of electric vehicles had “followed” in Africa, in about 1%.
Be in fullness
Kemeriya Mehammed Abduraheman, to pay a model of the Chinese brand byd, had to pay around 29,300 euros, a considerable sum in a country where almost 38% of the population lives with less than $ 3 per day, according to the World Bank.
The purchase of this vehicle is for her a “long term” decision:
“I was able to save on gasoline expenses. I could also save lost time to queue in front of the service stations,” he smiles.
Because being in full swing is a challenge in the city of approximately 4 million inhabitants, the queues that can extend more than hundreds of meters. The country without a coast, which depends on the port of Djibouti for its imports, often faces fuel shortage.
While Kemeriya Mehammed Abduraheman spent about 4,000 Birrs (about 24 euros) each month in fuel, her invoice to load her electric car is only 600 Birr (around 3.60 euros), she rejoice.
In the Ethiopian capital, electric cars, with most Chinese, are now visible in each corner of the street. More original and unexpected: sometimes you can see a Tesla Cybertruck, whose sale price is more than $ 100,000. Buses that intersect the city are also electric.
“The transition to electric vehicles in Ethiopia has been more successful than expected” due to “the rapid growth of the middle class and the high demand for new vehicles,” develops Samson Berhane, an Ethiopian economic analyst.
The load stations have also multiplied in the Ethiopian capital, and “many consumers have taken the initiative to install chargers in the home and their workplace,” he said.
Load infrastructure to develop
But this change in the forced walk is not without generating blockages. They are reported for spare parts, but also of mechanics trained in electric cars.
Load stations are still missing. “It would take more than 2,300. However, we currently have no more than 100, and only in Addis,” admits Minister Bare Hassen Bare. This means that drivers cannot provide too long trips outside the capital.
Near Addis Abeba International Airport, the National Ohio Telecom operator has installed terminals, in front of which dozens of people are waiting, including the Semag Getnet controller, VTC.
“Four days have passed since the electricity is cut (at home), so I recharge my battery here,” he said, saying that sometimes I wait up to four hours to reach their purposes.
Ethiopia often faces power cuts. The inauguration on September 9 of a mega dam at the Nile, presented as the largest in Africa, should make it possible to double the country’s electrical capacities. But also facilitates the transition to green mobility.
The main brake for many potential buyers of these vehicles remains their price. An obstacle that Ethiopian authorities expect to stop by attracting foreign manufacturers that would produce locally.
Source: BFM TV
