Africa’s leading electric bus company, BasiGo, has secured $3 million (Ksh390 million) worth of equity funding from CFAO Group (CFAO), a leading player in mobility, healthcare, consumer, infrastructure business in Africa, wholly owned by Toyota Tsusho Corporation in Japan.
The investment, split between CFAO Kenya and Mobility54, the corporate venture capital arm of CFAO will go towards accelerating the scale-up of BasiGo’s manufacturing and delivery of electric buses in Kenya and Rwanda.
With operations in more than 40 African countries, CFAO owns Africa’s leading automotive distribution network. The group is already active in the e-mobility industry in East Africa. Early this year, CFAO launched the first dealership for BYD electric cars in Kigali, Rwanda.
They are actively building the e-Mobility ecosystem in East Africa by investing in e-mobility startup companies through Mobility54. The group is also contributing to the development of renewable energies in Africa.
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In February 2024, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, CFAO Kenya, and CFAO Motor Kenya jointly signed a Framework Agreement for Collaboration with the Government of Kenya, and pledged to support Kenya achieve carbon neutrality by establishing the green energy value chain, from energy generation to utilization.
“We are honoured to have CFAO as our partner in the electrification of public transport in Africa,” said Mr Jit Bhattacharya, BasiGo Co-Founder and CEO. “As a leader in both the energy and mobility industry in Africa, CFAO recognizes the extraordinary opportunity for electric mobility to transform African economies.”
The investment from CFAO Kenya lends strong credibility to BasiGo, which in 2022 became the first company to launch electric buses for public transport in Kenya. As of this month, BasiGo’s electric buses in Kenya had driven over 1.5 million kilometers, carried over 2.1 million passengers and mitigated over 680 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is the start of a new era and through this investment, we are not only supporting the growth of the electric vehicle industry, but also contributing to the development of sustainable green energy value chain that will benefit communities across Africa,” said Mr Akira Wada, the Managing Director of CFAO Kenya. “We are committed to playing our part in advancing clean energy initiatives and driving progress towards a more sustainable and prosperous future for Africa and beyond.”
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In February 2024, BasiGo completed production of their first locally assembled electric buses. The vehicles were assembled at the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM) factory located in Thika, in which CFAO Motor Kenya, an affiliate company of CFAO Kenya, holds a stake.
BasiGo aims to deliver 1,000 locally assembled electric buses in the next three years, creating 300 green manufacturing jobs in Kenya. The company has already received over 500 reservations from bus operators in Nairobi and an additional 100 reservations from bus operators in Kigali, Rwanda.
BasiGo’s key innovation is the Pay-As-You-Drive financing model, a mileage-based lease which eliminates the high upfront cost of an electric bus for operators. As part of CFAO’s investment, the two companies have announced that they will jointly explore the expansion of BasiGo’s Pay-As-You-Drive model to new classes of commercial electric vehicles.
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