This category recognises social enterprises, i.e. businesses that aim to generate profit and have positive social or environmental impact, that are solving some of the continent’s most entrenched social or environmental problems.
eBee Africa
About
eBee is a pan-African e-mobility company that was founded in 2021 with roots in Kenya. It now also operates in Uganda and Rwanda.
eBee sells and rents electric bicycles and operates a fleet of over 300 riders for last-mile deliveries, creating green jobs and opportunities for women and youth. About 40% of its mechanics are women and it aims to increase female office staff and mechanics to 50%.
eBee distinguishes itself from its competitors by using electric bicycles. Most e-mobility companies in East Africa use electric motorcycles that require battery charging and battery-swapping infrastructure and are significantly more expensive to buy and operate.
Why electric bicycles?
- Emissions reduction: Electric bicycles are two- to three-times more economical than carbon-polluting motorbikes and vehicles for last-mile deliveries.
- Convenience: Electric bicycles can be charged as simply as mobile phones and have a range of 80km when fully charged.
- Inclusivity: E-bicycles are attractive to youth and women who tend to find them easier to operate than traditional motorbikes.
The problem
At its core, eBee aims to address challenges faced in three critical areas:
- Financial and gender inclusion: Traditionally, last-mile delivery job opportunities are less accessible to youth and women who may lack the financial resources and physical capacity or technical skills required to operate motor vehicles and motorbikes.
- Poverty reduction: Traditional vehicles tend to be associated with high costs – of purchase and operation – which act as a barrier to entry into the last mile delivery sector and decrease the take home income of last mile delivery drivers.
- Environmental sustainability: The continued use of internal combustion engine vehicles acts to exacerbate emissions levels and the associated negative consequences for environmental and human health across African markets.
What makes eBee Africa unique?
eBee initially started by leasing electric bicycles to logistical companies before shifting to fleet management. It now provides a full service delivery proposition, creating employment opportunities for unemployed youth and women, promoting a cycling culture for commuters and couriers, contributing to reducing traffic congestion and last-mile delivery costs and supporting the continent’s transition to lower carbon economies.
Use of impact investment capital
eBee has attracted impact investment from a wide range of sources, including family offices, that have invested in eBee through equity ($1.6m), convertibles ($3.2m), and loans ($1.3m). Funding has also been secured from the Dutch government, which provided a startup concessional loan worth $600,000. This impact investment has enabled eBee to scale and replicate its model, expanding its service offering beyond Kenya, to Uganda and Rwanda.
Impact
In the long term, eBee aims to create a durable and impactful pan-African company with one million bicycles on the road, and to create over 150,000 jobs, while saving one million tons of CO2 per year.
Currently, eBee employs almost 400 riders in Nairobi, Kampala and Kigali – 50% of whom are women and 75% of whom are youth.
eBee has sold over 700 bicycles to independent delivery riders and estimates that it has prevented the emission of more than 400,000 kgs of CO2.
Scalability
eBee has recently expanded operations beyond Kenya, replicating its model in both Uganda and Rwanda.
Scalability is supported by the capital light nature of business set up, but is subject to supportive regulatory environments in new markets
eBee plans to expand to more countries in East Africa, including Ethiopia and Tanzania, by 2025/2026 and into West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast) and North Africa (Morocco and Egypt) thereafter.
Addressing challenges
A key challenge to implementing innovative business models which rely on novel technologies often arises in the form of regulatory constraints. This has been the case for eBee as they have had to navigate markets in which vehicle categorisation for electric bicycles is non-existent.
To address this challenge, eBee has invested significant resources in robust stakeholder engagement – particularly with policymakers and regulators – focused on developing appropriate regulatory frameworks to enable the shift to this new form of e-mobility.
eBee has also had to navigate macroeconomic challenges, including economic downturns, and chose to do so through reliance on its strategy of rapid innovation – making adjustments to operating procedures and even expanding into additional markets as a way to maintain its ability to deliver impact.
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