Are you working on interesting topics in e-mobility or related sectors solving challenges around acceptability, affordability, or accessibility in East or West Africa? Is your solution accelerating the transition towards electric mobility? Are you an organization or enterprise having a social or ecological impact established in your vision or mission? Then apply now!
In 2020, the transport sector accounted for 16.2% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the main contributors to climate change. If current trends in motorisation persist, transport greenhouse gas emissions could double by 2050. If the global community wants to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the transport sector needs to transition towards a low carbon, if not a net zero, sector. Against this background, innovative solutions are crucial. Electrifying vehicles is the most mature technology in the transport sector to tackle carbon emissions and air pollution. The start-up scene on e-mobility is growing in Africa creating sustainable employment opportunities while supporting economies to thrive into a greener future. If this transformation is to succeed, improving acceptability, accessibility, and affordability of electric mobility is crucial.
Scope of work, objectives & deliverables
Siemens Stiftung is looking for visionary enterprises that are at the forefront of developing tailored solutions for the emerging e-mobility sector in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, or Tanzania. We are supporting pilot projects driving the transition towards a sustainable, low-carbon transport sector. These initiatives can either come from single enterprises or joint initiatives willing to contribute to improving the acceptability, accessibility, and affordability of e-mobility. The tested solutions shall be working on solving any challenges around electric vehicles, battery technology, or charging/swapping infrastructure and can also emerge from the energy sector (e.g. smart grid technologies; energy storage), the e-waste and recycling sector (e.g. electronic or battery waste; second life or recycling of electronics or batteries), or the tech sector (e.g. integration of e-mobility related IoT applications).
Interested candidates can apply addressing one (or more) of the following aspects:
- Acceptability: Designing user-centered solutions – be it products, services, or business models – to align with customer needs and preferences, thereby fostering wider acceptance of e-mobility.
- Accessibility: Adapting products, services, or business models to cater to diverse customer segments, ensuring a broader and more inclusive audience can access the benefits of e-mobility.
- Affordability: Balancing cost-effectiveness with substantial value delivery, enabling a larger audience to afford and embrace e-mobility solutions.
The selected applicants are expected to deliver a research report demonstrating the applied methodology, research results, an analysis of the financial sustainability of the tested solution, and main learnings. Sensitive data and intellectual property rights can be considered during the contracting process.
Siemens Stiftung intends to publish the results through a digital event or as a report.
Siemens Stiftung is looking for enterprises operative in the e-mobility ecosystem in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda or Tanzania. The candidates must demonstrate market experience in one of the countries and should be working on any challenges in the e-mobility or their corresponding sector. Interested candidates need to comply with the following criteria:
- Candidates need to be registered in the country of the research project.
- Candidates need to have a minimum viable product of their solution (photos, blueprints or protocols are mandatory). In case the candidate is working on crucial ecosystem services for e-mobility, they need to demonstrate relevant track records in their respective sector.
- Candidates need to have paying users and clients for their solution (e.g. through financial statements/management accounts).
- Positive impact is part of the candidates identity (e.g. through a mission statement).
Candidates with pending litigations against them or members of their management team, candidates looking for refinancing opportunities on debt or other liabilities, or candidates having an active contract with Siemens Stiftung are excluded from the application process.
