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How to sell shovels to gold miners on electric motorbikes

You know you’re in a gold rush when selling operators their tools is the most profitable part of a sector

July 02, 2026

Welcome to Green Rising – I know this from reading novels as a child… in the old American west, when gold was found, the best business was usually not digging but selling the miners their shovels. There were so many of them, and they cared little about price – given how much they expected to earn, though most ultimately failed. Sounds familiar? Lots of entrepreneurs are rushing in to make electric vehicles for the African market, and suddenly everyone else wants to sell them goods and services. Ever new suppliers are coming to feed at this trough, including banks, utilities and electronics firms.

South Korean conglomerate LG has revived a project to manufacture electric vehicle batteries in Morocco. LG aims to produce 50,000 tonnes of lithium-phosphate-iron (LFP) cathode materials annually at the factory, enough to be installed in 500,000 entry-class EVs. LG makes the more expensive nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathodes in Asia.

  • Global demand for cheaper EVs is growing. The battery is the most expensive component of an EV, forcing battery manufacturers to shift to the production of cheaper LFP batteries over the costlier NMC batteries.  

  • Morocco is Africa’s largest EV battery producer after attracting billions of dollars in investments. While the majority of the batteries are for global markets, Africa is expected to gain from sourcing EV batteries closer to home.

  • Our take: Morocco's battery boom will matter more for Africa when it starts serving African EV demand… Read more (2 min)

Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali has commenced the financing of electric vehicles. The bank is offering up to 100% funding for EVs at a 14% annual interest with a 5-year repayment period. The loan offering targets private motorists, taxi operators, ride-hailing companies and public transporters. The bank has signed a deal with nine EV companies for vehicle supply.

  • A clear divide is emerging in Africa’s EV financing market. Banks are the main EV financiers for corporates and salaried workers. Informal borrowers like motorcycle riders are financed by asset lenders at much higher interest rates. 

  • African banks have been slow to embrace EVs (mainly due to initially low demand). The high depreciation rate of EVs is also a concern. But increased demand for EVs now is forcing lenders to change their stance.

  • Our take: The banks that build EV lending expertise today will dominate tomorrow's vehicle finance market… Read more (2 min)

Energy companies in markets embracing “power wheeling” are turning policy reforms into catalysts for EV charging infrastructure expansion. South African charge point operator Black Tower Energy plans to install 80 additional charging stations in 2026 after deploying 16 in 2025, using wheeled renewable electricity supplied by Red Rocket Energy.

  • Large independent power producers such as Red Rocket Energy can supply electricity to charge point operators at lower rates than national utilities, helping reduce charging costs for EV users.

  • However, as networks expand, power grids require substantial upgrades to handle the variable, decentralised flow of renewable energy from private producers. 

  • Our take: The continent is slowly shifting from utility pricing to decentralised grids, a key enabler of EV adoption… Read more (2 min)

Number of the week

…is the number of buses EV maker BasiGo can produce monthly. It is hoping to satisfy Rwandan demand for 500+ electric buses. Rwanda targets 20% electric public buses by 2030.

Network corner

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👉 Cameroonian startup BleagLee wins the $1 million Milken-Motsepe grand prize for converting plastic and e-waste into high-value materials using AI.

👉 Uganda’s Shifra Ainomugisha named 2026 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year for food security through solar-powered irrigation and cold storage systems.

Top green jobs from…

EVENTS UPDATE 

📆 Register for the Sustainable Transportation Conference in Namibia (July 7)

📆 Attend the Power & Energy Exhibition in Kenya (July 29)

📆 Join the Circular Economy Conference in South Africa (August 21)

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