Africa’s Electric Turn: UNEP Hosts Landmark Drive Electric Meeting in Nairobi
Written By Maxine Ansah
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In a historic first for the continent, the Drive Electric Campaign convened its global gathering in Africa at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi. The meeting marked a significant step forward for electric mobility in Africa, placing the continent firmly on the map of the global clean transport transition.
Opening the event on behalf of UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, UNEP Deputy Executive Director, welcomed delegates with a strong message: the shift to zero-emissions mobility is not only underway, it is unstoppable.
“This transition brings multiple wins: reduced air pollution, lower climate emissions, decreased reliance on fossil fuels, energy savings, and new green jobs,” Mrema declared. “The train has left the station, and there is no turning back.”
Why Electric Mobility Matters
The stakes could not be higher. According to UNEP, air pollution causes over seven million premature deaths each year, with vehicle emissions being a major contributor. Transport is also responsible for a quarter of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and without intervention this figure could rise to one-third by 2050. Electric mobility offers a clear path to reducing both pollutants and carbon emissions.
In Africa, the transition is not just about environmental benefits. It represents a profound economic opportunity.
“Electric mobility is not simply about emissions reduction,” Mrema noted. “It is a thriving new industry, ripe with opportunity for innovation, investment, and green job creation.”
Local Success, Global Potential
Mrema pointed to Kenya’s own electric motorcycle sector as a real-world example of the potential for clean transport solutions in Africa. Once dominated by second-hand, highly polluting petrol motorcycles, Nairobi’s streets are now seeing a surge in cleaner, electric two-wheelers, many of them assembled locally and powered by Kenya’s electricity grid, which is more than 90 percent renewable.
UNEP has played a central role in enabling this transformation. The organisation supported early pilot projects that proved electric motorcycles could be both cost-effective and scalable. These projects have since inspired similar efforts across the continent.
Policy Shifts and Regional Leadership
Some African nations are already leading the charge. Rwanda has become the first country to fully ban petrol-powered motorcycles, while Ethiopia has banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. Mrema praised these actions as more than just symbolic gestures; they are, she said,
“bold steps that demonstrate the leadership and ambition we need.”
In addition, UNEP’s electric mobility programme now supports more than 50 countries and is backed by a technical assistance budget exceeding 150 million US dollars. The programme is designed to help nations develop the infrastructure, policies and partnerships necessary to make electric mobility a reality.
ClimateWorks and Collective Action
A key partner in this transition is the ClimateWorks Foundation, whose collaboration has been instrumental in convening major global programmes and supporting their alignment. Mrema thanked the Foundation for its continued leadership, noting that its financial and strategic contributions are helping to push electric mobility from the margins to the mainstream.
“You are winning,” Mrema told the gathered experts and innovators. “The world is changing, and your efforts are at the heart of that change.”
Nairobi at the Centre
Hosting the meeting in Nairobi was not only symbolic, but strategic. As Mrema noted, UNEP is the only United Nations headquarters located in the Global South, making it a natural convening ground for a truly inclusive energy transition.
“For this transition to be just and effective, it must be global,” she said. “We cannot allow the Global North to move ahead while developing countries are left behind.”
The Drive Electric Campaign’s first African convening represents a powerful signal that the continent is not merely catching up but helping to shape the future of sustainable transport.
With innovation flourishing, partnerships strengthening, and governments beginning to embrace bold new policies, Africa’s electric mobility movement is gaining speed quietly, cleanly and with purpose.