WEST AFRICA: Persistent invests in SolarTaxi’s electric vehicles

Just four years after its launch, Ghanaian start-up SolarTaxi is already targeting the West African electric mobility market through a new partnership with venture capital firm Persistent Energy Capital.

Accra, Ghana-based mobility start-up SolarTaxi is now listed as a partner of Persistent Energy Capital, a multinational venture capital firm. The two companies are joining forces to distribute locally assembled electric vehicles (cars and bicycles) from SolarTaxi in the capital city of Accra.

Through this partnership, the start-up founded in 2018 by Ghanaian Jorge Appiah, hopes to expand the distribution of its vehicles in West Africa in addition to Ghana where it successfully markets several models including the Chinese Xpeng G3 520i Smart, BYD E6 and K-OneDongfengER-30.

“This partnership marks Persistent’s fourth investment in the electric mobility space as a Climate Venture with a strong commitment to sustainable transportation. Our venture capital will enable SolarTaxi to unlock working capital to manage large orders and contracts for its electric cars and bikes across West Africa,” says Toukam Ngoufanke, senior venture builder at Persistent.

Contributing to climate action in the region

In Ghana, two-wheeled vehicles are very popular with e-commerce platforms such as Jumia and Bolt, which use SolarTaxi’s electric bicycles to make deliveries. In addition to lowering fuel and maintenance costs, this mode of transport contributes to reducing pollution, unlike combustion vehicles which generate carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

SolarTaxi also plans to install solar-powered charging stations to support the use of its electric vehicles in West Africa. At the same time, the company, which is also supported by the American Mastercard Foundation, announced the future launch of its “SolarCampus” concept. This is a mobile application that allows West African students to order their items online and be quickly delivered by an electric bike

Benoit-Ivan Wansi | https://www.afrik21.africa/