Green Hub East Africa Ltd‘s first 13 female electric boda riders have graduated and are ready to take on the roads of Kampala. Just one month ago, none of them had ever ridden a motorcycle before and some not even a bicycle. Today, they are confidently riding their electric motorcycles in Kampala; a city with some of the most chaotic traffic in the world. They are so confident, that for a start, even the Ugandan minister Monica Musenero took an e-ride with one of the women.
“The saying ‘it takes a village’ could not be truer. In collaboration with a handful of valuable partners, our 13 first women riders and ambassadors graduated their 3-week long training program including defensive riding, financial literacy, family planning, and self-defense – so don’t mess with them,” says Moa Rydell, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Green Hub East Africa Ltd. She continues:
“We are very happy to have realized the first step of the project in partnership with Access2innovation and Women Rising for Africa. With funds from Danida Green Business Partnerships; and together with our partner SafeBoda, we now launched Uganda’s FIRST public charging station for e-bodas. From here, and from our other four charging stations in Kampala, our riders will be able to get free energy for life. Also, thanks to the generosity of TotalEnergies, we could offer all women free helmets as well as financial support to significantly reduce the cost of our lease-to-own product, combined with the lowest interest rates on the market from Centenary Bank Limited. Our riders even received FREE smart phones, sim cards & data from MTN – ensuring that they can work as digital freelancers for ride-hailing apps.”
Also the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat of Uganda and Minister Monica Musenero are big supporters of the pilot project, which will educate 45 women to become e-boda-drivers and provide livelihood opportunities for an additional 15 women across the e-mobility value chains.
Green Hub Kampala Boda Boda project
In Uganda, where the transport sector generates high greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, this project will recycle old bodas (taxi motorcycles) and replace them with e-bodas powered by solar energy. This innovative pilot project encompasses an ecosystem consisting of six value chains, including material recycling (led by an all women workforce), e-boda distribution with asset financing, charging infrastructure, renewable energy generation, and digital support services.
The project sets out to transform the commercial boda industry, one of Uganda’s largest informal employment sectors. It aims to increase incomes for drivers, provide safer working conditions, promote sustainable waste management, and initiate the transition to a green transport sector. Furthermore, it will explore a safer inclusion of women in the boda industry.
Key impacts include renewable energy production, significant CO2 and air pollution reductions, and creation of green livelihoods for women and youth, including increased income for boda drivers.
The project Green Hub Kampala – E-mobility ecosystem for climate change mitigation and improved livelihoods is developed by Access2innovation together with Kjaer Group, Nexus Green Ltd and the new joint venture Green Hub East Africa Ltd. It is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Danida Green Business Partnerships (DGBP) program.
For a start, the Ugandan Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat under the president office, Monica Musenero took an e-ride with one of the women of the Boda-Boda-project.
