These are not just students or startup founders; rather, they are revolutionaries, chasing a cleaner tomorrow on the wings of electric power.
By Phillip Mwangangi | E-Mobility Series
On the dusty edge of Kampala, a forgotten garage pulses with energy. Sparks fly, wires writhe like restless roots, and a stripped-down motorcycle frame stands like a skeleton waiting for rebirth. Around it, a circle of university students moves with quiet purpose—fingers smudged with grease, eyes lit with possibility.
Here, in this unlikely workshop, Africa’s green mobility dream is being rewired from the ground up – by youth, by hand, by pounding hope.
A Generation wired for change
Across the heart of East Africa, a quiet storm is rising. It hums not with noise, but with energy – electric, defiant, unstoppable.
In the alleys of Kampala, beneath the skyline of Nairobi, young dreamers are not waiting for the future. They are building it—bolt by bolt, spark by spark. In backstreet garages, crowded classrooms, and makeshift labs, they conjure machines of motion from scraps and vision.
With little more than wire, willpower, and wild imagination, they are rewriting the rules of mobility. These are not just students or startup founders. They are revolutionaries, chasing a cleaner tomorrow on the wings of electric power.
The world may not be watching yet. But make no mistake—the road ahead is theirs.
“We couldn’t afford imported parts, so we started retrofitting broken-down petrol bikes with recycled laptop batteries,” says Eddy Tumwesigye, co-founder of VoltRiders Uganda, a student-led electric bike initiative.
EV training & vocational hubs
Thanks to government and private-sector collaboration, technical training is catching up fast. Rwanda and Kenya now offer EV repair and battery tech courses through their TVET programs, while innovators like Roam and BasiGo are hosting hands-on internships.
- Rwanda Polytechnic trains 100+ EV tech students annually
- Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta University launched East Africa’s first EV innovation lab
- Makerere University of Uganda now includes battery systems in its engineering curriculum
“It’s not just about driving e-bikes – it’s about designing the systems behind them,” says Imani Wanjiku, a mechanical engineering student in Nairobi.
Dorm Room to Disruptor
Many of East Africa’s emerging e-mobility companies began as student projects. With access to seed capital from clean-tech funds and accelerator programmes like iHUB in Nairobi and Norrsken in Kigali, these ideas are becoming real businesses.
Driving employment, not just transportation
E-mobility is generating an ecosystem of new jobs:
- Battery technicians
- Charging infrastructure engineers
- Digital fleet managers
- E-bike assembly operators
A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)-backed report predicts over 200,000 new green mobility jobs in East Africa by 2030 if policy and funding keep pace.
Voices of the future
“My dream is to design Africa’s first solar-powered ride-hailing scooter that runs all day without swapping,” states Salim Ahmed, 19, from Mombasa, Kenya.
“Electric is our chance to leapfrog. We missed the combustion engine boom – let’s not miss this one,” says Grace Umutesi, a Kigali-based mobility researcher.
What does the future hold?
With youth at the centre, East Africa’s e-mobility shift is more than technological – it’s cultural. It’s a fierce declaration of agency, a surge of innovation, and a bold claim to a cleaner tomorrow.
In the shadow of roadside workshops and the hum of university labs, young Africans are shattering the myth that clean transport is a foreign concept. It is not an import; it’s a vibrant, homegrown movement – fuelled by purpose and electrified by boundless potential. The future is being shaped here, on this soil, by the hands of those who refuse to wait for change—they are creating it.
Know a youth innovator making moves in e-mobility? Nominate them for our feature spotlight by contacting us via editor@ethicalbusiness.africa.
