Nairobi — Kenyan electric vehicle startup BasiGo will deliver 15 electric buses to public service vehicle (PSV) operators in Nairobi.

Today, the startup delivered two environmentally friendly buses to Citi Hoppa and Super Metro.

The shift to EV passenger vehicles comes at a time when William Ruto's administration seeks to modernize the country's PSV sector.

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen said EV adoption is part of the government's agenda to address pollution and climate change.

CS Murkomen added that the government will provide incentives for public service vehicles, motorcycles, and commercial transporters to acquire EVs.

"The Government will play its role in the transition to e-mobility by providing an enabling environment for development and mainstreaming e-mobility through fiscal incentives for importers, manufacturers, assemblers, sellers and spare part dealers," said Murkomen.

The Kenyan government enacted the Climate Change Act of 2016 and the Energy Act of 2019 to help with the transition to e-mobility.

Through the Finance Act of 2019, the excise tax on 100 percent EVs was reduced from 20 percent to 10 percent, and a host of other possible incentives are being considered under the draft National Green Fiscal Incentives Framework.

"As we promote electric mobility, we must prepare as a nation to deal with batteries' end of life style in a manner that they will not cause any harm to the environment while exploring ways of recycling them or better ways of disposal will be crucial," he added.

The government is promoting the use of high-capacity vehicles in public transport for cities through the Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT).

Charging points have been established to facilitate the charging of the electric cars, which take 2 to 3 hours to fully charge and can allow a user to cover a total of 250 kilometers.