Kenya and Ethiopia are testing whether electric buses can run across borders, with a 1,600km trip from Nairobi to Addis Ababa (Sept 10–18) checking if regional charging infrastructure can support it.
Kenya Power is providing charging support and BasiGo supplied the bus; the route runs through northern Kenya and crosses into Ethiopia via Moyale. It ties into the Nordic-Africa EV Summit happening in Addis Ababa the same week (Sept 14–16).
The point isn’t just covering the distance — it’s testing whether charging networks, route planning, and cross-border coordination can actually work together for electric public transport.
Ethiopia has been pushing hard on electric buses and charging infrastructure in Addis Ababa already, while Kenya Power says its EV-charging revenue has grown significantly over the past few years. It follows a similar 2025 EV test on the same corridor, and ties into a wider pattern — Advanced Mobility Africa also ran an EV convoy from Lobito (Angola) to Lusaka (Zambia) this year, part of a broader push toward electric freight/mobility corridors across the region.