• Uganda targets phasing out fossil fuels in public transport by 2030
• Electric vehicles remain under 1% despite pilots and local production
• $1.7 billion plan includes charging network, aims to cut emissions

Uganda plans to phase out fossil fuels from its public transport sector by 2030, authorities said at an electric mobility forum held in Jinja, Nile Post reported on Friday.

Public transport includes buses and boda-bodas, which are motorcycle taxis and the main mode of urban travel.

Winstone Katushabe, commissioner for transport regulation and safety at the Ministry of Works and Transport, said the policy is part of the Fourth National Development Plan and the National E-Mobility Strategy.

“The government has made electric mobility a key driver of sustainable development,” he said.

The scale of the transition remains significant. Uganda has about 5,000 electric motorcycles in operation, representing less than 1% of the total fleet, Katushabe said.

For buses, four electric units are currently operating along the Jinja-Iganga corridor in eastern Uganda as part of a pilot programme.

Local manufacturing is also expanding. A total of 37 buses have been assembled at the Kira Motors Corporation (KMC) plant in Jinja, including 27 built locally, Cosmas Twikirize, superintendent of the industrial value chain at the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology, told The Independent.

An industrial strategy backed by local production

The transition relies heavily on KMC, a state-owned electric vehicle manufacturer based in Jinja.

The company has an annual assembly capacity of about 10,000 vehicles, including 2,500 buses, Twikirize said. Local content currently ranges from 20% to 30%, with a target of 65% by 2030.

The government plans to deploy 3,500 public charging stations by 2030, with one charging point every 50 kilometres, according to the National E-Mobility Strategy.

The programme is estimated to cost about $1.7 billion, Monitor reported. Funding commitments secured during the initial round of partner engagement totalled $800 million, Twikirize said.

The strategy projects a 12.5% contribution to GDP, the creation of more than 500,000 green jobs and a reduction of over 25% in transport-related emissions by 2040.

This push comes as Kampala ranks among the world’s 10 most polluted capitals, according to IQAir’s global air quality report published on March 24. Uganda is also advancing its oil sector, with initial production expected within months.

Abdel-Latif Boureima