EAST AFRICA: CFAO invests $3m in electric buses from start-up BasiGo

Start-up BasiGo has secured $3 million from Japanese company CFAO to speed up the manufacture and delivery of its electric buses in Kenya and Rwanda.

It’s a new beginning for mobility start-up BasiGo. It has just secured $3 million from Corporation For Africa & Overseas (CFAO), a company specialising in automotive distribution and energy. With this funding, the subsidiary of Japanese group Toyota Tsusho is renewing its commitment to supporting the expansion of BasiGo’s electric buses in East Africa.

The investment, backed by venture capital firm Mobility54, will enable the start-up to speed up the manufacture and delivery of its new vehicles, which are in great demand in Kenya and Rwanda. “Our electric buses have already made significant progress, with more than 1.5 million kilometres travelled, 2.1 million passengers transported and 680 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduced since this month (March 2024, editor’s note)”, says the BasiGo start-up headed by Jit Bhattacharya.

Focus on decarbonising transport

CFAO’s desire to support the decarbonisation of transport on the continent comes as no surprise, given that the company has been committed for several years to a carbon-neutral approach aimed at reducing its CO₂ emissions by 50% by 2030. To achieve this, it has integrated electric cars into its showrooms, which are themselves powered by photovoltaic solar panels.

Eco-responsible approaches that should encourage African drivers to buy as few pollution-causing combustion vehicles as possible. With this in mind, manufacturers and assemblers such as BasiGo are expanding their fleets. In this respect, the start-up is offering its customers (public transport drivers) its 25-seater “K6” and 54-seater “E9 Kubwa” models, in which Kenyan President William Ruto was recently seen driving.

Cover photo: By AFRIK21