Mobility for Africa

Want to know how we're changing lives in rural Africa? 🤔 👇 Check out Shantha Bloemen's talk at Tsinghua University to discover how the electric-powered Hamba is empowering rural women. She highlights the importance of leveraging China's experience with #electric three-wheeler technology as well as the need to modify and adapt it to #ruralAfrican needs. ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ #mobilityforall #cleanenergy #Africanentrepreneurship https://lnkd.in/dsu5d4tm

Supporting #smallenterprises and family-run #businesses 💪 🚀 Meet Sharon Sanahnga who runs a bakery alongside her cousin, Monica, and Aunt Lindiwe. Before the Hamba, Sharon would only sell 60 loaves - all she could transport to market - but now they consistently sell all 100 of their loaves! By facilitating efficient transportation to markets and customers, the Hamba has enabled her to maximize production capacity and explore new business opportunities. 📈 After only being introduced to Hauna, Zimbabwe 3 months ago, it's brilliant to see the positive impact and innovative uses of the Hamba! 🇿🇼 #transformingtransportation #investinrural #supportlocal #greentransport #empowerment #communitydevelopment #zimbabwe

💡 “We really need creative and practical thinking and we’re still a long way from solutions if we’re not willing to experiment” Shantha Bloemen, Mobility for Africa Check out Shantha's latest interview with Beate Kubitz 👇 which delves into Mobility for Africa's practical transport solutions for rural areas and highlights the importance of investment to unlock a more green and mobile future! #RuralMobility #TransportationInnovation #InvestInChange Thank you Beate Kubitz! https://lnkd.in/e4MUM9aY

This past Sunday, I had the incredible honour to be back at Beijing’s Tsinghua University,one of the best universities not just in China but around the world. I was a guest speaker. There to share Mobility for Africa ‘s journey to solve transport needs for rural women by leveraging #China’s own experience. I used the talk to highlight the partnership with China was not to simply adapt the “San la Cher”, the common transport used by the country’s rural and poor, but also to leverage technology to make it both truly #African but also #electric. It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends and colleagues. It brought back many happy memories of working with the University while at UNICEF and in the early days of Mobility for Africa, when Professor Xu and @EmmaPeng, through the Life Long Learning Lab, helped me find some amazing PhD students to help with the design of the pilot and come to Zimbabwe. I was joined at the “China-Africa Cooperation Stories by others working to solve some of Africa’s big problems from malaria, to reproductive health to food security by leveraging Chinese technology to build partnerships in the continent in the agriculture and health sector. The Talks were hosted by the Tsinghua University Center for Global Development and Health Communication, with support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in China. The series will be broadcast by China’s leading storytelling platform @Yixi in lead up to the Forum on Africa-China Cooperation (#FOCAC) in September. John Woo Yunong W. Dina Yang

Welcome Sika to the MFA Team! 👋 Say hello to our newest Site Coordinator based in Honde Valley, Zimbabwe! 🇿🇼 Sika, a vibrant mother and Grandmother, brings a contagious energy to our new site in Hauna. "I'm a people person," she says, "so joining this team to liase with the hamba fleet customers was an exciting opportunity!" What excites Sika most? Witnessing women empowered by owning electric vehicles. "They have a newfound confidence," she observed. "They feel fulfilled, discovering their potential and independence!" She has already seen how the Hambas are positively impacting community: "They're primarily used for transport, which was a huge need here. There just weren't many options before. Everyone wants a Hamba, they're going to be everywhere!" We're thrilled to have enthusiastic team members pushing a future where electric vehicles revolutionise rural transportation and empower communities. #team #MFA #ElectricVehicles #Zimbabwe ⚡️🇿🇼

As we know from our journey, research and development, along with building green skills and addressing policy regulation is critical to leveraging the enormous benefits from electric mobility in the continent. This requires capital intensive and patient investment but the potential return as it stimulates local economic development could be enormous. Thanks for InfraCo Africa The Private Infrastructure Development Group AECF EEP Africa Toyota Mobility Foundation & Expo 2020 Dubai for being willing to join this journey.

Pauline's Story: Increasing #AgriculturalProductivity, reducing #foodwaste and #socialmobility 📈 🍅 Meet Pauline Zerere (right), a driven woman who's transforming her business and her life! Thanks to increased mobility from the Hamba, Pauline's thriving: 📈 More Sales, reduced loss: Mavis Takaya's (left) tomatoes used to rot before reaching buyers due to insufficient transport. Now, Pauline picks up to 3 loads a week, filling her Hamba to the brim! 💰 Reduced Costs, Increased Profits: Pauline used to hire expensive cars ($40/trip!) to help transport produce for local farmers. Now, her Hamba saves money and she only charges farmers $10 - HALF of what petrol-powered cars are charging. 🏫 Improved Family Life: Pauline's business success means her son, Jonah (20), can continue his education. She is also using the profits to extend her house form 2 to 4 rooms! 🎯 Learn & Grow: Pauline is getting her Class 3B license to drive herself. Her husband is a Class 1 driver, using a car to also buy and sell, but with the Hamba she has lower overheads and is turning a greater profit! #EmpoweringWomen #AgriculturalSuccess #reducedfoodwaste

His Royal Highness, Prince William, who created The Earthshot Prize in 2021 and Hannah Jones, the CEO, have an ambitious plan. They want to harness concrete environmental solutions to the #climatecrisis from around the world as quickly as possible and build a bridge to the finance needed to scale them. They are the #optimists we need, willing to use their voice and their networks on how we solve the worst of #climatecrisis. Being invited to attend The Earthshot Prize inaugural innovation camp at the London Sky Gardens during #LCAW was an incredible recognition of our vision to bring green transport to those on the front lines of the climate crisis - rural women in Africa. Being part of a select diverse yet passionate group of people all united in their vision to save humanity from the worst of climate change, was awe inspiring and humbling. An affirmation that there are the solutions if we are willing to dream them and then work hard to translate them into a scalable reality. Hearing stories of impact from earlier winners, made it clear that those of us working in our own startups were neither alone nor crazy, but instead can and should be celebrated. It was a much-needed ray of sunshine during a very tough stage in the Mobility for Africa journey as we seek to expand and scale with a capex heavy business in a continent where financing is expensive and tough to find. Michael Bloomberg, who started one of the most amazing sources of financial data to drive transparency by creating the Bloomberg Terminal, before the PC was even born, gave us words of encouragement. Dara Khosrowshahi,CEO of Uber reminded us “sometimes to speed up you have to slow down”. 'Tokunboh Ishmael, CFA, an amazing African impact investor, shared lots of practical wisdom including to be flexible and remember there are 26 letters in the alphabet, reminding us we can have another plan if the first one doesn’t work out. Richard Curtis, the legendary filmmaker, who founded, Comic Relief illustrated the need to be “bold and greedy” when changing the world and how good stories could help do that. Else Devlin, an amazing artist, reminded us how stories can create the action needed for building more dignity in our often-divisive world, but especially for those whose life journey has been tough and painful. An enormous thank you to the amazing team from Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Earthshot Prize for including Mobility for Africa in what was an unforgettable and inspiring week.

🛴 How Electric Tricycles are improving infrastructure and mobility challenges across Africa Today’s episode features Shantha Bloemen, the founder of Mobility for Africa Shantha highlights the potential of electric transport allows us to rethink how we can address mobility and energy challenges in rural areas, particularly for women. Shantha was also part of the 2024 movmi EmpowerWISM competition. What you'll learn: 📍 The social and economic benefits of E-micromobility for women in Africa 📍 Unique power and transport infrastructure challenges in the African context 📍 Why programs like movmi EmpowerWISM are important to diversity in transport and mobility 📍 About Mobility for Africa ➡️ Listen anywhere you get your podcasts, or here via Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gjeR4qhS

Not everyday you get to meet Michael Bloomberg! Our CEO, Shantha Bloemen, was fortunate enough to meet a fellow New Yorker, who is not only an extraordinary entrepreneur and philanthropist, but is committed to addressing the #climatecrisis. She had an inspirational day at the Bloomberg European HQ, one of the most environmentally friendly offices in the world as well as an atheistic masterpiece (see below ⬇ ). It was an honour and an inspiration to be with other nominees, a diverse committed bunch of people from all over the world who are dedicated to seeing how humanity adapts to our new #climatereality. See more about the Earthshot Innovators programme at London Climate Action Week here: https://lnkd.in/dqTsZdci #sustainablebusiness #climateaction #futureofwork #makingadifference #globalcommunity #inspired