Africa Innovates Magazine - Flipbook - Page 43
DECARBONIZING
MALAWI’S
TRANSPORT SECTOR
E-MOBILITY
Malawi’s Lameck K. Nkhonjera
is a mechanical engineer with a
passion for sustainable energy
and rural development. He’s the
creator and co-founder of Wupla
Enterprise, a company which
creates electric motorbike taxis
as a sustainable energy model
for rural areas.
WHAT IS YOUR
INNOVATION?
Malawi has a major challenge in decarbonizing
the transport sector. The boom in petrolpowered motorbike taxis is worsening
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We saw
the opportunity to create electric motorbikes
that fit the country’s needs, so we designed
a motorbike frame with a cleaner charging
system, which uses solar PV charging points.
To make electric motorbikes available for
rural populations, we created a rental system
allowing people to rent motorbikes, which
they’ll own after a certain period. We’re
currently producing the first motorbike and
finishing the covers.
We’re also a training a team of five who’ll be
able to test the motorbikes with our regulatory
bodies, ready for licensing.
Photo credit: Wupla Enterprise
WHAT IS YOUR
AMBITION?
I will substitute petrol-powered motorcycles
with electric motorcycles in Malawi. There
are between 50,000 and 100,000 petrolpowered motorcycles and changing this will
have a huge impact on climate change. If we
can replace only one motorbike, we will avoid
1.4 tons of CO2 per year. For one motorbike
only! I therefore want to produce more
electric motorcycles – especially taxis, but also
other sectors that frequently use bikes, like
construction, and others. In the longer term, I
dream of producing electric cars.
DO YOU WANT
TO SHARE A
MESSSAGE?
Climate change is real. It is happening now in
Malawi. Africans, we must wake up and fight
climate change! It is time to rise and be at the
forefront of the fight.
“The boom of petrolpowered motorcycle taxis in
Malawi generates huge gas
emissions in the atmosphere.
(...) The numbers speak for
themselves – by substituting
one motorcycle in the taxi
industry alone, we would
be able to mitigate 1.4 tons
of carbon dioxide emissions
each year.”
Lameck K. Nkhonjera,
Wupla Enterprise founder
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
SHOWCASING AFRICAN CLIMATE CHAMPIONS
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