Large boulevards and Euclidian zoning patterns characterize the development in in Kigali. Photo credit: Zdegiulio via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Electric mobility in Kigali: Building a city-wide clean transport network
Can electric mobility help Kigali tackle congestion, air pollution, and rising demand for public transport? New research on electric buses and motorcycles in Kigali explores the opportunities and barriers to scaling clean transport networks. Drawing on surveys of residents, operators, drivers, and policymakers, the study highlights the need for coordinated policy combining infrastructure and finance to support e-mobility in Rwanda.
Kigali’s transport network faces a double challenge: rising congestion and worsening air pollution. Policymakers are already experimenting with solutions, from restructured bus routes to car-free days twice a month, but the pace of change must accelerate in order for the city to cut emissions in line with Rwanda’s 2030 climate commitments.
Electric buses and motorcycles offer a route to cleaner air, lower operating costs, and reduced fuel imports. Early pilots have proven technically feasible and popular with riders, yet scaling them will require coordinated infrastructure, financing, and regulation. The question for decision makers is not whether electric mobility works, but how to make it a routine part of daily life in Kigali.
A recent IGC-supported study brings together the voices of policymakers, transport operators, motorcycle taxi drivers, and residents to assess the opportunities and challenges for scaling up electric mobility in Rwanda’s capital city. The findings point to a city with a coherent national framework, visible early successes, and a public ready to ride – if infrastructure and finance move in step.
Kigali is a leader in transport reforms
Rwanda’s approach to transport policy links climate ambition with day-to-day mobility. Vision 2050 positions clean air and efficient movement as central to economic growth. The 2021 National Transport Policy commits all new road projects to environmental and social appraisal and requires a sector-wide carbon baseline to be established within five years.
Transport is pivotal to Rwanda’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution, which pledges a 38% cut in emissions relative to business-as-usual by 2030. Electric motorcycles and buses are expected to deliver almost a quarter of this reduction, supported by duty-free imports, VAT exemptions, and discounted electricity tariffs for public chargers.
At the city level, Kigali’s 2050 master plan calls for a “City on the Move,” built on high-capacity public transport corridors and compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods. Steps have been taken in that direction, including replacing informal minibuses with scheduled routes, rolling out a smart card system, and planning a bus rapid transit spine. Twice-monthly car-free days have already demonstrated tangible benefits, cutting fine particulate matter by around 15%. The integration of electric mobility into this trajectory is, therefore, both logical and urgent.
What our surveys reveal about electric mobility in Kigali
Between late 2023 and mid-2025, the research team conducted five targeted surveys. Residents were approached door-to-door and interviewed about travel habits, cost sensitivity, and experiences with electric transport. Policymakers responded to structured questions on regulatory constraints and priorities. Operators shared data on fleet composition, finances, and adoption barriers. Current motorcycle taxi drivers were surveyed at busy ranks, while a separate group of riders who had already converted petrol bikes to electric provided detailed operating cost comparisons.
This multi-actor approach reveals a coherent but nuanced picture. Public enthusiasm is high: 73% of residents have taken an electric ride, and all said they would do so again. Yet more than two-thirds worry about purchase prices, range, charging time, and charging access. Among drivers, the greatest concern is the limited number of battery swap stations, followed by high upfront costs. Daily operating costs are less of an issue – electric motorcycles already align well with the economics of low-margin transport work.
Demographics also matter. Nearly 60% of prospective riders are aged 18 to 35. For this group, repayment schedules and affordable entry points are more important than headline prices. Women remain largely absent from the group of riders, reflecting structural barriers that training programmes and targeted finance could address.
Electrification as part of a wider transport strategy
Surveyed officials rate congestion and accessibility as the most urgent problems in Kigali’s transport network, with pollution and infrastructure shortcomings close behind. Safety and affordability are seen as less pressing. The implication is that electrification cannot be an isolated intervention. Clean vehicles will only deliver their full benefits when embedded in a broader transport system designed to reduce congestion, improve access, and modernise infrastructure.
Operators’ perspectives underline the importance of timing and targeted incentives. Fleet managers already running on electricity see fuel volatility as a concern of the past, while diesel operators see it as a daily challenge. For many petrol riders, debt on existing bikes locks them out of the transition, even though they know about the available subsidies. Lease-to-own schemes and scrappage bonuses could accelerate uptake in this group.
Policy recommendations for scaling electric vehicle adoption in Kigali
Linking infrastructure roll-out with concessional credit could ensure that new charging corridors are paired with affordable financing. Building a visible spine of swap and fast-charge stations along Kigali’s main arteries is critical, as is treating charging investment as a form of preventive health spending – an argument backed by the measurable air quality and health gains from switching to electric vehicles.
Other measures include opening the sector to more women riders through tailored financial products and training, and embedding safety and open data requirements in all electrification contracts. These last steps echo findings from global research showing that integrated policy bundles combining safety, transparency, and infrastructure yield the best health and sustainability outcomes.
Road ahead: The future of e-mobility in Rwanda
The most immediate barrier to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles is the alignment of finance and infrastructure. Without affordable credit, charging stations alone will not shift the market. Without a visible, reliable network of chargers, even concessional loans will not drive uptake. Data gaps also persist; routine, transparent collection of travel and air quality metrics would strengthen the case for investment and help track progress.
Kigali’s early lead in electric mobility has already influenced peers in East Africa. The question now is whether it can turn pilots into a full-scale network that locks clean mobility into daily life. The study makes clear that the technical pieces are in place and that the public is ready – what remains is the institutional capacity to finance, coordinate, and deliver at scale.
IGC-supported work examines urbanisation, climate policy, infrastructure, and economic transformation in Rwanda, and generates evidence on the challenges shaping the country’s long-term development.