Kenyan electric bus company BasiGo has secured a $3 million (Ksh390million) funding from Japanese company CFAO Group.
BasiGo in a March 26, 2024, statement announced that the funding from the CFAO Group, which is owned by Japanese Toyota Tsusho Corporation, is part of a collaboration towards achieving a complete green energy value chain.
“We are proud to announce that BasiGo has secured USD 3 million investment from CFAO Group owners of Africa’s largest automotive distribution network. BasiGo and CFAO Group share a vision for a complete green energy value chain in Africa,” read part of the statement.
The $3 million investment is split between CFAO Kenya and CFAO’s corporate venture capital arm Mobility54.
According to the statement, the investment will go towards accelerating the scale-up of the company’s manufacturing and delivery of electric buses in both Kenya and Rwanda.
CFAO Kenya Managing Director Akira Wada acknowledged the funding noting that it is the start of a new era for the company.
Sustainable Green Energy
According to him, the investment will not only support the growth of the electric vehicle industry, but also contribute to the development of sustainable green energy value chain that will benefit communities across Africa.
“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,” said Wada.
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BasiGo is a Kenyan electric bus company headquartered in Nairobi that leases electric buses to various local bus owners.
It became the first company to launch electric buses for public transport in the country back in 2022.
Subsequently, the company completed production of its first locally assembled electric buses in February 2024.
The vehicles were assembled at the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM) factory located in Thika, in which CFAO Motor Kenya holds a stake.
According to the company’s statistics, BasiGo’s electric buses in Kenya had carried over 2.1 million passengers, driven over 1.5 million kilometers, and mitigated over 680 tons of greenhouse gas emissions as of March 2024.
BasiGo Routes
As of March 2024, the company has partnered with local transport companies such as Citi Hoppa, Super Metro, Metro Trans, and Embassava which ply different routes within Nairobi including, CBD-Airport, CBD – Kikuyu, CBD – Nyayo & Jacaranda Estates, among others.
The company aims to create 300 green manufacturing jobs through the delivery of 1,000 locally assembled electric buses in the next three years, in Kenya.
Furthermore, BasiGo has already received over 500 reservations from bus operators in Nairobi and an additional 100 reservations from bus operators in Kigali, Rwanda.
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BasiGo Co-Founder and CEO Jit Bhattacharya on his part noted that the company was honored to have CFAO as its partner in the electrification of public transport in Africa.
“As a leader in both the energy and mobility industry in Africa, CFAO recognizes the extraordinary opportunity for electric mobility to transform African economies,” he said.
He further stated that the two companies will jointly explore the expansion of BasiGo’s Pay-As-You-Drive model to new classes of commercial electric vehicles.
The Pay-As-You-Drive financing model is BasiGo’s key innovation which is a mileage-based lease that eliminates the high upfront cost of an electric bus for operators.
CFAO Group on the other hand owns Africa’s leading automotive distribution network with operations in more than 40 African countries.
This investment comes following a significant Ksh8.7 billion deal which was signed between the Government of Kenya signed and US Agency Millennium Challenge Corporation for the acquisition of electric buses.
The buses are meant to operate on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane.
