Reflections from the Africa E-Mobility Week 2025, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Under the crisp Addis skies, the hum of electric vehicles and the buzz of conversation merged into one collective rhythm, the rhythm of change. From October 14th to 18th, 2025, leaders, innovators, and dreamers gathered for the Africa E-Mobility Week, a convergence of ideas shaping a continent on the move. It was a celebration of Africa’s determination to redefine transport, not just as a means of movement, but as a pathway to equity, sustainability, and inclusion.
Where Power Meets Purpose: Women Reimagining the Road Ahead
In Africa’s transport ecosystem, women have long navigated an uneven road, one marked by exclusion, safety concerns, and limited opportunity. Yet, as the shift toward e-mobility accelerates, a new question emerges: Will the future of transport finally include her?
During the Gender Panel and Networking Session, women leaders from across the continent took to the stage to answer that question boldly. They spoke of equity, of a future where access to innovation, investment, and leadership isn’t determined by gender. The conversations revealed that while e-mobility promises a low-carbon future, without deliberate inclusion, it risks becoming another male-dominated chapter in Africa’s transport story.
Their message was clear: as we transition to electric mobility, women and persons with disabilities must be central, not peripheral, to this transformation. This is not only about fairness, but about tapping into the full creative potential of Africa’s people. One leader put it simply, “If transport moves people, then people must move transport forward, all people.”
When Women Lead, the Journey Changes
In the corridors outside the main conference hall, another milestone unfolded quietly but powerfully. Flone Initiative hosted an intimate gathering of women shaping the clean mobility movement, a celebration, a reunion, and a revolution all in one.
It was here that the Women in Transport Africa (WTA) Network was officially launched. The energy in the room was electric, women exchanging ideas, laughter, and a shared sense of mission. Flone presented the story behind the movement, its milestones, the hurdles faced, and the lessons learned. But more importantly, they extended an invitation: to build a connected, continental network of women determined to lead Africa’s transport evolution with empathy, innovation, and collaboration.
The WTA Network now stands as a home for professionals, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to dream and build together, proving that progress is always stronger when shared.
Dreaming Forward: Imagining Tomorrow’s Transport Today
Later that week, Flone joined other partners in a design thinking session titled “The Futures Literacy Workshop on the Future of Electric Mobility.” Organized by TUMI and GIZ, in partnership with ITDP, WRI Africa, and AfEMA, the workshop invited stakeholders from government, academia, civil society, and the private sector to imagine what a truly inclusive e-mobility future could look like.
Around the table, stories flowed, stories of innovation, but also of invisibility. Many agreed that despite progress, women and persons with disabilities remain underrepresented in the sector. From inaccessible policy frameworks to limited funding for female entrepreneurs, the barriers are still real.
The workshop’s collective vision was one of intention:
to engage all genders and abilities, to craft inclusive policies, to train, to advocate, and to fund.
Because leaving no one behind is not a slogan, it’s the foundation of sustainable progress.
The City That Dares to Drive Change
A tour through Addis Ababa revealed the living proof of political will in motion. Ethiopia, with its striking ambition, has taken bold strides toward electric mobility, driven by a desire to move from climate vulnerability to climate leadership.
After banning the import of most internal combustion engine vehicles in 2024, the country now boasts over 100,000 electric vehicles, aiming for half a million by 2030. With 98% of its energy drawn from renewable sources, Ethiopia is writing a new chapter in clean transport.
Participants witnessed charging stations capable of serving 32 vehicles at once, local EV assembly lines, and policies that actively reward green investment. And yet, the challenges remain familiar, skill gaps, high electricity costs, inadequate rural connections, and the persistent puzzle of battery waste management.
What Ethiopia’s story shows, however, is that change begins where courage meets commitment. It reminded everyone that policy and infrastructure are not just technical undertakings, they are moral choices about the kind of future we want to build.
One Continent, One Road Ahead
From Addis to Kigali, from Nairobi to Kampala, the call resonated across every session:
Africa needs a harmonized continental framework for e-mobility.
A framework that unites smart infrastructure, renewable energy, gender equity, and fair taxation. A framework where nations learn from one another, not compete. Because the future of transport in Africa must not only be electric, it must be equitable, accessible, and authentically African.
As the curtains closed on Africa E-Mobility Week 2025, one truth echoed through the halls:
technology may drive the wheels, but people drive the change.
And as Flone Initiative continues to advocate for inclusive mobility systems, one thing remains certain, Africa’s journey toward a greener, fairer transport future has already begun, and no one should be left at the roadside.