News of the Week: BasiGo Doubles Output, Eyes 130 E-Buses on Kenyan Roads by 2025

Hey, Kaluka here,

Kenyan electric bus startup BasiGo has significantly ramped up production and is now assembling up to 20 e-buses per month. This is double the capacity it was assembling before.. This milestone follows the company’s successful Ksh 5.4 billion funding round last year. Most of the funding was used to scale its operations as well as investments in new assembly kits, tools, charging depots and skilled workforce.

Despite this progress, BasiGo has yet to deliver over 500. The waitlist has now ballooned to 1,000. The company is no longer accepting deposits for new orders and is instead growing a queue of interested customers. With just 50 buses delivered, BasiGo aims to deliver 80 more by the end of 2025. This would bring the total number of electric buses it has on Kenyan roads to 130.

To support the growing fleet, the company is also expanding its charging infrastructure along key Nairobi commuter routes like Jogoo, Ngong, and Thika Roads. This is an essential step toward enabling wider adoption of clean public transport in Nairobi.

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If you’re a founder building something bold, now’s a good time to raise. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here.

Last week, we tracked 8 funding rounds across Africa that raised about $42.5 Million.

We had quite some undisclosed investors who took part in the 8 funding rounds. The ones who publicly revealed their participation include AfricInvest, FMO, Atlantica Ventures, P1 Ventures, LoftyInc Capital, Zedcrest Capital, Everywhere Ventures, Tim Chen, Global Mofy, Google, E Squared Investments, Emso Asset Management, Bolt, Assemble49-Global, DBSA and IFC.

East Africa, especially Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, is fast becoming a hub for electric mobility innovation, thanks to rising GDP growth, a growing middle class and proactive government policies.

These markets are seeing major advances not only in electric buses (e‑buses), but also in electric two‑ and three‑wheelers that serve boda‑boda riders and last-mile delivery. Startups like Roam‑Opibus in Kenya (raised $24M in 2024), Ampersand in Rwanda (battery‑swap leader), and Spiro in multiple East African countries are disrupting transport norms

Electric buses in Africa made up < 0.01 % of the total fleet in 2020, despite growing projects in Accra, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Kigali, Lagos, Nairobi, and Johannesburg . However, the sector is forecast to grow at a CAGR of ~10% (2025–2030) across the continent. This rapid expansion from a tiny baseline highlights both the massive opportunity and the urgent need to scale infrastructure and manufacturing.

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