E-mobility: a new opportunity to look at transport in Africa differently?
This podcast series tells the stories of women as civil society actors, activists, authors, leaders, health and humanitarian workers, youth representatives, traders and entrepreneurs in the Sahel and West Africa. We gather first-hand examples of their outstanding work within local communities as well as their important contributions to advancing gender equality and positive change. These conversations also aim to better connect the Sahel and West Africa Club’s evidence-based analysis with civil society advocacy and action through dialogue and knowledge exchange.
How do we create a policy environment that embraces innovation and empowers us as young Africans to design transport solutions that suit our context?” In this episode, Valerie Labi, shares her broad, ambitious, multi-sectoral vision of the future of transport in Africa. For Valerie, it’s important for Africa to design its own e-vehicles, produce them locally at scale, and become a thought leader and innovator in the e-vehicle space. She speaks to the gendered dimensions of transport, highlighting opportunities to
support women to transition to e-bikes, allowing them to not only reduce time spent physically carrying goods, but empowering them to engage in revenue-generating, educational, or other activities. Valerie is a serial impact entrepreneur tackling the Sustainable Development Goals and co-founded Wahu Mobility, Africa’s first eBike manufacturer.
Our host for this episode is Dr Leena Koni Hoffmann, Associate Fellow of the Africa Programme, Chatham House.