Electric Vehicles. Photo/courtesy
Ethiopia joins other East African nations in transitioning to the use of Electric Vehicles ( EVs ) due to the increasing Global fuel prices and opting for cleaner transport.
Ethiopia like other East African countries including Kenya and Tanzania is at the center stage of eliminating fuel powered vehicles and replacing them with EVs .
With a little bit more than 30,000 EVs in Ethiopia, according to the governments ministry of Transport and logistics, Ethiopia is set to import about 439,000 EVs both personal automobiles and electric buses in
a decade after revising it’s initial 10-year plan of acquiring 148,000 electric automobiles and 48,555 electric buses earlier this year.
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Ethiopia became the first country worldwide to impose a ban on the importation of internal combustion engine cars a ban confirmed in January this year.
“The Ministry of Transport and Logistics will no longer permit fossil‑fuelled vehicles to enter Ethiopia because the country cannot afford to import gasoline and diesel. Last year, Ethiopia imported fossil fuels valued at almost US$6 billion, over 50% of which went to fuel vehicles,” said a statement by HKTDC research.
The swift transition to EVs has been facilitated by the Ethiopian government efforts to create incentives and and tax exemptions on importation of EV parts and EVs generally.
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The terms include 15% tax on fully assembled EVs, 5% tax partially assembled ones and duty-free on EV parts to be assembled in the country.
According to Bareo Hassen the country’s minister of Transport and logistics the move by the Ethiopian government is meant to encourage the use of Electric mobility and would help the country save large amounts of foreign currency spent on buying fuel yearly.
With the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) nearing full completion amid ongoing conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt over the construction of the dam. The dam is set to be a major source of hydroelectric power for the country accelerating the transitioning to electric mobility and cleaner transport.
The GERD once completed is estimated to generate about 5,150 megawatts of power which would be a great boost for the country.
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