eWAKA, one of Africa’s most promising sustainable mobility businesses, has received strategic support from the Swiss Confederation’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Start-up Fund. The SECO Start-up Fund has provided a 500,000 CHF debt financing to support eWAKA’s 2023 plans to accelerate a growth strategy focused on offering innovative and sustainable transportation technologies in Africa through local production and promotion of eWAKA’s distinctive electric bike, the Shujaa.

Given that the transportation sector is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, the urban logistics sector in Africa and around the world urgently needs to adopt innovative technology and business models to combat climate change, which affects African countries disproportionately. The repercussions are being felt in major economic value chains, notably Africa’s largest, agriculture. The logistics sector can play a vital role in assisting Africa in addressing climate concerns while offering considerable economic advantages to a number of critical industry sector value chains by incorporating more cost-effective and environmentally friendly vehicles into transportation fleets.

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The expansion strategy, which is based on various pilot initiatives, including the introduction of the Shujaa market, would allow eWAKA to extend to other parts of Kenya and East Africa in 2023. eWAKA’s expansion objectives include securing new financing options for independent delivery drivers.

Commenting on eWAKA’s 2023 growth strategy, Celeste Vogel, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer & General Counsel of eWAKA said: “eWAKA’s unique value add proposition is the completeness of the ecosystem we offer in the space of last-mile transportation. As understanding localized constraints and variables are key to successfully deploying micro-mobility models and solutions, eWAKA conducted several pilot projects with target customer segments to further develop our product line. For 2023, eWAKA will pursue strategic partnerships to expand our customer base by adding greater financing options and aggressively promoting the Shujaa roll out in Kenya, targeting the B2B sector as well as independent drivers.”

Susanne Grossmann, the manager of SECO Start-up Fund commented on eWAKA financing facility: “After a robust selection process, we are pleased to offer eWAKA a loan for executing their business model in Kenya. We welcome the contribution to local production in the e-vehicle space and we hope that eWAKA will set a successful example for efficient, climate friendly traffic systems in African cities that meet the mobility needs of the continent.”

The year 2022 was a watershed moment for eWAKA. eWAKA is poised for growth in 2023 with a full product line for multiple customer segments offering flexible rental options, subscription and purchase plans to meet commutes, personal well-being, and net-zero targets, leveraging key customer segment insights and expanding local production capabilities.

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• eWAKA Shujaa is specifically intended for delivery. The bike has a front rack with a load capacity of 15 kilogramme and a back rack with a load capacity of 50 kg, for a total load capacity of 65 kg. It comes with one battery as standard and may be upgraded with a second battery for a total range of up to 120 kilometres. The Shujaa is simple to use, less expensive to access (no need for a driver’s licence and easy to manipulate), and less expensive to maintain while providing equivalent functionality.

• eWAKA Kickscooters are designed for sharing and are composed of high-quality materials. Product training, after-sales services, and smart mobility software are available to drive vehicle efficiency, insights, and uptime. Live data is collected by eWAKA’s fleet management platform allowing fleet owners to improve remote management, vehicle tracking, servicing history, and other safety controls.

• eWAKA motorcycles are designed for urban, rural, and last-mile deliveries. The vehicle, its battery-swapping environment, and conversion kits for converting internal combustion engine motorcycles have all been thoroughly tested.

The SECO Start-up Fund (SSF) is a lending institution established by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). SSF provides loans for start-up business projects of Swiss entrepreneurs/enterprises in emerging markets (economies under development or in transition).

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard