The Tanzania Times
East, Central and Southern African Times News Network

Tanzania among the top five African Countries adopting electric vehicles

Tanzania is among the top five African countries leading in adopting the usage of electric vehicles.

As far as the data from the continent is concerned, Ghana, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, and Ethiopia are the five African states that are recording notable strides in electrifying their rides through a mix of policy incentives and infrastructure development.

Ghana leads with an estimated 17,000 Electric Vehicles, with the move being driven by duty waivers and strong uptake of e-motorcycles as well as battery powered three-wheelers.

Morocco follows with around 10,000 Electric rides and over 400 charging stations, supported by a robust EV export sector.

South Africa, with the biggest economy of all, ranks third with about 6,000 Electric Vehicles. The country has removed import duties and installed a comparable number of public chargers.

Tanzania essentially kicked-started the trend in Africa, over ten years ago, when a number of tour operators swapped diesel engines from their Four-Wheel drive Safari trucks, replacing them with electric motors for eco-friendly tourism.

At the moment though, there are estimated to be more than 5,000 Electric vehicles in Tanzania, with many such trucks tackling the rugged terrains of Serengeti and Maswa.

Tanzania is also experiencing a massive surge in the deployment of electric bikes and battery-powered tricycles, most serving as urban taxis in Dar-es-salaam and Arusha cities.

Ethiopia, on the other hand, is registering between 5,000 to 7,000 Electric Vehicles, with the country leveraging its hydropower resources and offering tax incentives to support the shift.

Despite enjoying a better economy Egypt currently has 4,000 electric vehicles, though Cairo is mulling local assembly.

At number seven, Kenya has approximately 3,753 electric vehicles with most of them being E-buses like BasiGo.

Benin, with slightly over 3,000, mostly electric motorcycles with lease-to-own models, ranks eighth.

Rwanda, despite zero VAT and waived registration fees, comes ninth with around 1,190 electric vehicles, but working to expand infrastructure.

Angola closes the top ten listing with only 1,000 EVs in operation but 2,000 more electric vehicles are currently awaiting shipment into the country.

Global sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose by 29 percent in April 2025 compared to the same month in the previous year 2024, according to data from electric vehicle (EV) research firm Rho Motion, Euronews reports.

A total of 1.5 million electric vehicles were sold globally in April 2025 which marks a 12 percent decrease from March 2025.

From January through April, global EV sales reached 5.6 million units, a 29 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

Christian Brand, emeritus professor in transport, energy and climate change at Oxford University, told Euronews: “EV adoption is accelerating – but politics, not technology, will decide who leads and who lags.