Green Global Footprint Initiative (GGFI) held an electric vehicle (EV) awareness event on 18th February, 2023 at Karura Forest.
The event was dedicated at minimizing skepticism, misconception, anxiety and Ev unawareness among the public which is an undermining factor in the quest of the uptake and embrace of Electric Vehicles.
GGFI demonstrated the power of community engagement through the EV awareness event. They shared their passion with communities on electric vehicles and sustainability. They also gave platform for talks and presentations which opened the window for people to peep, listen and understand how easy it is to embrace e-mobility.
Their core agenda is to overcome the existential Climate Change challenge much more efficiently.
Industry leaders who are disrupting the waves of EV came together to share nuggets of wisdom and frameworks on what’s in store for the future of e-mobility. Among the speakers were Isaiah Omondi (Biliti), Christopher Mara (Kiri EV LTD), Moses Nderitu (Basigo), Silvanus Wambua (Caetano), Alex Mwanzo (Equator Mobility) and Tom Morton (Tropical Power).
With the mystery in hand of Africa contributing to only 4% of global emission, but still one of the hardest hit regions by the effect of climate change, GGFI believes that electric vehicle could be part of the solution, if not the actual solution.
The initiative is geared towards promoting Climate Change Action and the transition to clean Green Energy.
Speaking to Mr. Ratemo Mabeya, founder and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at GGFI, he confirmed that, “As Kenya’s new E-mobility policy gets better and better, the number of new Electric Vehicles will also increase.”
As the world moves much toward Net Zero Carbon Emissions, it’s a big jump for people to go from internal combustion engine to electric vehicle and electric mobility. Mabeya says with GGFI, they are looking long-term when it comes to climate change action, Sustainability and E-mobility.
Historically, when Robert Anderson developed an electric vehicle in circa 1832, he didn’t have in mind that he was trying to save the planet. His was just an idea, if not a great invention.
Transport sector has contributed a lot in air pollution. UNEP data asserts that air pollution is the greatest environmental threat to public health globally and accounts for an estimated 7 million premature deaths every year.
One of the major barriers to full e-mobility adoption has been a lack of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and motorcycles. However, Mabeya together with his team at GGFI have come up with an EV charging infrastructure.
“Integral infrastructure for the adoption of Electric vehicles, Ev charging points have been far behind the development of new Electric vehicles, and have become one of the bottlenecks hindering the faster development of new Electric vehicles,” Mabeya said.
He adds that investment in the charging station is huge and it is difficult for the charging station to generate economic benefits for enterprises, thus this development is being overlooked. “GGFI is looking to solve that problem more sustainably without necessarily building for economic benefits but for the public good, building back better from bottom for the future to solve a problem,” Mabeya stated.
The challenge of having charging stations has popped a line of ideas into him. He says that he’s planning to build an electric forecourt to make charging an electric vehicle the most awesome, enjoyable, ultra-convenient, and stress-free experience it can be.
GGFI’s Electric Forecourt is High Power of up to 350kW and Low power of up to 22kW. At the forecourt Mabeya says they will have EV awareness days, test drives, car showroom, drive-thru and cafe’s presentations from Ev gurus.
“It’s important to make it much easier for people to understand what an electric vehicle is, how electric vehicles can be useful to individual and our environment. It’s also paramount to show the next generation of Ev drivers and owners where they can save money, the contribution to the net zero with the solar farm projects and make Ev efficient, reliable and relatable,” Mabeya said.
