17 new energy charging stations in East Africa

There are between 250 and 300 public EV charging stations in South Africa at the moment. This equates to approximately one charging station for every four EVs in the country, which is one of the highest ratios of Chargers vs EV's in the world.

The installation of electric car charging stations is gaining momentum in Africa as investors look to exploit what will develop into a multimillion-dollar market opportunity driven by a growing demand for e-mobility. Most of these opportunities currently focus on South Africa, Morocco, Kenya and to a lesser extent, aspirational markets like Uganda.

The AC standard Type 2 socket will allow charging of all EVs currently available in South Africa, while the DC charger is fitted with the CCS DC type socket used by the vast majority of EVs in the country. You can access the full interactive map here. Read: A look at the new electric Ford Mustang SUV

There are several companies operating electric charging stations in India, including Tata Power, Fortum Charge and Go, and EV-Volvo. The Indian government has also set up a number of charging stations as part of its National Electric Mobility Mission Plan.

The new charging station network is expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2022. The opportunity has also attracted real estate firm Dowgate Properties, which has gone outside of Nairobi to set up electric vehicle charging stations in the town of Naivasha and in Kenya's fourth-biggest city, Nakuru.

In South Africa, German carmaker Audi took the competition in this segment a notch higher when it announced planned installation of 70 ultra-fast (150kW) public charging stations across 33 sites, in January. The charge points provide direct current (DC) that will fully charge vehicles in less than an hour.