Proparco has stepped into East Africa’s fast-evolving e-mobility market with a new investment in Nairobi-based startup BasiGo, aiming to speed up the shift from diesel buses to electric fleets. The undisclosed funding, which supports operations in Kenya and Rwanda, reinforces the French development institution’s long-term strategy around low-carbon urban transport. It also signals growing confidence that electric buses can deliver both commercial returns and measurable climate benefits in some of the continent’s most congested cities.
BasiGo’s Role in East Africa’s E-Mobility Shift
Founded in 2021, BasiGo has built an integrated model that covers local assembly of electric buses, deployment of charging infrastructure, and flexible financing for public transport operators. The company sells and leases vehicles through a pay as you drive structure that links repayments to kilometers driven, making the switch from diesel more affordable for operators with tight margins. To date, it has deployed 100 electric buses across Kenya and Rwanda, which have carried more than nine million passengers and driven over 1.4 million clean kilometers.
Climate, Cost and Public Health Benefits
BasiGo’s buses are designed to tackle several structural problems at once, from high fuel costs to air pollution and traffic related health risks. Each electric bus that replaces a diesel equivalent is estimated to avoid more than 50 tons of CO₂ emissions per year, contributing to more than 3,000 tons of emissions avoided so far. Operators also benefit from roughly 40 percent lower annual operating costs compared with diesel vehicles, improving the economics of mass transit while maintaining predictable service for commuters.
Proparco’s Strategic Climate Mandate
For Proparco, the deal fits within the AFD Group’s broader ambition to deploy around one billion euros per year in transport and mobility projects worldwide. The institution has supported electric bus systems in cities such as Dakar and Bogota, often through public private partnerships that help de risk large fleet transitions. By backing BasiGo at this stage, Proparco aims to replicate similar models in African cities, while supporting local industrial activity and skilled jobs through the company’s assembly operations.
Development Finance Driving African E Mobility
The BasiGo transaction also reflects a wider funding pattern in African e mobility, where development finance institutions and climate funds provide the bulk of growth capital. Recent sector data shows that DFIs now account for an estimated 70 percent of disclosed funding into African e mobility companies, with traditional venture capital playing a smaller role. Alongside Proparco, actors such as British International Investment, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and climate focused investors like Mirova and Gaia Impact have financed electric motorcycles, buses, and charging networks across the continent.
Scaling Ambitions and Road to 1000 Buses
BasiGo’s leadership views Proparco’s backing as validation of its business model and a springboard for expansion beyond its current fleet. The company plans to scale up local assembly capacity, grow its charging network in and between major urban centers, and accelerate its stated Road to 1000 buses target. If successful, this next phase would deepen its footprint in Kenya and Rwanda and position the startup to enter additional African markets that face similar congestion and emissions challenges.
Proparco’s investment in BasiGo underscores how development finance is shaping the early stages of Africa’s transition to cleaner mass transport. The partnership combines concessional capital, industrial know how, and on the ground execution to prove that electric buses can work at scale in African cities. The real test will be whether models pioneered by BasiGo can reach sustained profitability and eventually attract a broader mix of commercial investors, reducing long term dependence on public and climate driven funding.