A Made-in-Uganda electric bus, the Kayoola E-Coach, has completed a 7,125-kilometre journey from Kampala to Cape Town, demonstrating the continent’s growing capabilities in clean transport and regional trade. The trip highlighted the bus’s efficiency, consuming just 0.83 kWh per kilometre, and prevented an estimated 3,240 kg of carbon dioxide emissions.
The journey also showcased the potential of intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The Kayoola E-Coach moved seamlessly across multiple member states as a tradable African good, helping secure a landmark deal for 450 electric buses and opening new markets for African manufacturers.
Developed by Kiira Motors Corporation, the E-Coach is part of Uganda’s broader effort to establish a domestic automotive industry. Kiira Motors traces its origins to 2006–2007, when Makerere University students began designing electric vehicles. The company was formally established in 2014 as a government-backed initiative to produce environmentally friendly vehicles for domestic and regional use.
The Kayoola E-Coach builds on previous innovations, including Africa’s first hybrid vehicle (Kiira EVS, 2014) and the Kayoola Solar Bus prototype (2016). The commercial rollout of electric buses, beginning in 2019, has accelerated Uganda’s push toward sustainable public transport and strengthened regional trade capacity.
Observers say the significance lies not only in technical performance but in the larger industrial message: Uganda and Africa are now producing their own industrial data, contracts, and innovations, proving that local manufacturing can compete and scale on a continental level.
