Cycling is something we in Africa consider a poor man’s mode of transport. To our defense, we are mainly used to 20th-century bicycle models that are unpleasant to the eye and require one to break a sweat when moving uphill. eBee, an upstart company in Kenya, is seeking to make cycling as fashionable as it is in Europe by introducing something sleek, beautiful, dignifying us, and above all, something that cares for the environment. 

Olivia Lamenya, the Managing Director, is proud of her company and what it represents. “eBee because the world is moving into a space of sustainability, moving away from things that bring down the earth and looking at things that make the earth better.” 

Apart from making cycling fun, Olivia reveals that a bicycle was chosen as it was one of Kenya’s most affordable means of emission-free mobility. “Many people in Kenya want to make money. Many people on the African continent would like to earn something and have a decent life, so why not give them an asset that allows them to start without too many complications? So electric bicycles were a very sane thought for us at that particular moment,” says Olivia.

eBee mobility solution is centered around providing people with sustainable employment means. With e-commerce on the rise, companies like Jumia and Glovo are in high demand for last-mile delivery personnel. With an e-bike, people could work as delivery partners and earn incomes without impacting the environment. Although cheaper than electric cars, the upfront cost of owning an e-bicycle is still considerably high for most people in the country who live on less than US$2 a day. With upfront ownership out of the picture, leasing became a wonderful compromise. “It’s a lease model because we don’t want anyone going into debt,” explains Olivia. 

Olivia clarifies that the company has partnered with Quatrix to make the lease model work. Quatrix gets them the right personnel and together, they’re able to approach companies like Glovo, Jumia, and Bolt and provide a delivery service. 

In February 2022, eBee Africa signed a partnership agreement with ImaliPay to allow gig industry workers to access electric bicycles on favorable terms, removing the need for a lump sum for outright purchase. “ImaliPay is a very interesting concept for us because they look at how can we get guys who typically wouldn’t be given a loan by the bank. How do you allow them the opportunity to cycle and pay you back on a day-to-day basis? And that’s where ImaliPay came in.” 

ImaliPay helps with the lease model by allowing buyers to pay back and creating an immensely customer-friendly way of collecting back the money. “As the rider makes money on the platforms, ImaliPay can deduct the cost of the bicycle rent from the rider’s daily intake. That way, the rider doesn’t feel too much of a loan or too much of a cost is implied on them. So, if they don’t ride, they don’t pay. If they ride and make money, then they pay.” Olivia sees this as a win-win situation for the company and the riders. 

One of the biggest challenges eBee Africa faces is getting the right personnel to repair and maintain the bikes because it is an entirely new asset in the market. “One would automatically think that because somebody has repaired a motorbike, they can repair it. It doesn’t necessarily work that way.” 

The Netherlands, a global leader in e-bike technology, has become strategic in helping eBee develop the necessary capacity to support the adoption of e-bikes in Kenya. “We have somebody from the Netherlands who has come in to help us transfer those skills and make sure that it is a fully Kenya-owned company,” she clarifies. 

Despite the challenges in setting up electric cycling infrastructure, Olivia is one happy manager. Her pride mostly comes from her team, which took a novel project and stopped at nothing to make it work. “They are a very supportive, very diligent, and industrious group of Kenyans, who are very open to new experiences. Obviously, none of them had ever seen an electrical bike, and none of them had ever worked on an electrical bike before. So, the ability to come in and take on the task of this bike, strip it down, figure it out, build it back together, ensure that the quality remains the same, understand what some of the challenges that these riders would experience on the road, take the bike, ride it during the day, ride it during the night, understand what safety concerns could come is amazing.” 

To ensure a sustainable business and skills transfer locally, eBee is establishing the eBee Academy. “We’re still building it, and one of the things we would like to do is to attach ourselves to a polytechnic or some university or institute and see how we can bring these two together, encourage the youth to take on something different from what they would accept as a conventional form of engineering.” With the help of the Dutch, the company hopes to make technology work without relying on foreign aid. “We will bring in our specialists from the Netherlands to help us understand the bikes, but in the future, my expectation is that our shop floor managers will be the ones training the next group of engineers on managing this,” adds Olivia. 

The e-bikes rely on charging, as battery swapping is not widely available. “Right now, one of our batteries allows the rider about 70 kilometers before they need to charge, and it takes about 4 hours to charge the battery to full again,” she explains. Riders can take the batteries home and charge them, but the company plans to set up charging infrastructure. “We are getting to a space where we know charging points will be necessary and looking through partnerships to see who we can set up to create those charging stations.”

The classification of electric bicycles as motorcycles has been one of the greatest impediments to lowering their cost. According to her, taxation on these bikes is significantly high. She reveals that they are currently having conversations with the Kenya Revenue Authority, National Treasury, and Ministry of Transport on how to lower the taxes levied on these bikes. 

“We all wish we could snap our fingers and Kenya Bureau of Standards understand that this is a bicycle and not a motorbike, that Kenya Revenue Authority can immediately understand that it’s a bicycle with a motor and reduce taxes. It is an educational process for them and for us to understand and appreciate how we create that balance that allows everybody to come.” 

Like the government, Olivia believes that consumers, too, need clarification on what electric bikes are and have yet to appreciate their benefits to both users and the environment. “We grew up knowing that bicycles are for the poor and changing that concept means changing how we’ve thought for many years.” She, however, believes more efforts directed at behavioral change can yield the desired results. “I wish we could have a bicycle day in Kenya, where everybody rides to work or takes a different form of transportation other than a fuel consumption form. We are a working nation, and we have a day where we just walk or cycle to work to change that. It could be once a year, just the way we run the marathons and those kinds of activities,” says Olivia. 

That could help people change the way we view some of these things and also appreciate what it means to not be a driver but to be a cyclist on the road. Maybe we would have more mutual respect when we see bicycles and motorbikes on the road,” she ponders. 

“The government can make pathways, cycle lanes, and maybe change rules around who uses what and make it more dedicated so that everybody understands their lane. Have in driving school’s syllabus around respect for cyclists and other motorists on the road. We understand the vehicle has a license, but we can share these spaces. So, changing that concept is not just for the government but also for the people of Kenya,” she adds.

eBee mobility solution is centered around providing people with sustainable employment means. With e-commerce on the rise, companies like Jumia and Glovo are in high demand for last-mile delivery personnel. With an e-bike, people could work as delivery partners and earn incomes without impacting the environment. Although cheaper than electric cars, the upfront cost of owning an e-bicycle is still considerably high for most people in the country who live on less than US$2 a day. With upfront ownership out of the picture, leasing became a wonderful compromise. “It’s a lease model because we don’t want anyone going into debt,” explains Olivia. 

Olivia clarifies that the company has partnered with Quatrix to make the lease model work. Quatrix gets them the right personnel and together, they’re able to approach companies like Glovo, Jumia, and Bolt and provide a delivery service. 

In February 2022, eBee Africa signed a partnership agreement with ImaliPay to allow gig industry workers to access electric bicycles on favorable terms, removing the need for a lump sum for outright purchase. “ImaliPay is a very interesting concept for us because they look at how can we get guys who typically wouldn’t be given a loan by the bank. How do you allow them the opportunity to cycle and pay you back on a day-to-day basis? And that’s where ImaliPay came in.” 

ImaliPay helps with the lease model by allowing buyers to pay back and creating an immensely customer-friendly way of collecting back the money. “As the rider makes money on the platforms, ImaliPay can deduct the cost of the bicycle rent from the rider’s daily intake. That way, the rider doesn’t feel too much of a loan or too much of a cost is implied on them. So, if they don’t ride, they don’t pay. If they ride and make money, then they pay.” Olivia sees this as a win-win situation for the company and the riders.

This feature appeared in the December 2022 edition of CEO Business Africa magazine. You can access the full digital magazine HERE.