Grace Ashiru
The European Union has provided Kenya with Ksh 50 billion, equivalent to $378 million, to facilitate the electrification of the public transportation infrastructure in that country. Because of this investment, Kenya will be able to construct the infrastructure required to improve the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of its bus rapid transit system.
This happened because Kenya’s head, William Ruto, and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von de Leyen, met recently at the European Union Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
As part of the deal, Kenya’s upcoming Green Mobility-Nairobi core bus rapid transit line 3 (BRT 3) will have electric buses that don’t cause any pollution and features an intelligent transportation system.
In February 2022, Kenya announced it would only run electric cars on the BRT system, but that has not been the case as the funds to move this from plan to project have not been particularly available. However, this new money brings renewed hope to Kenya’s plans, especially for its capital city, Nairobi.
This news comes when Kenya is still struggling with a lack of fuel, causing costs to go up and lowering the standard of living for many Kenyans. Also, Kenya is in the middle of a terrible air pollution disaster that is killing people and hurting the health of thousands of people. In 2019, air pollution in the country was linked to the early deaths of more than 5,000 people.
Kenya’s difficult conditions have helped make it a good place for electric transportation to grow, with the government joining private companies like Little and Bolt in promoting EVs.
