NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Kazeem Sanni

Nigerian entrepreneur Mustapha Gajibo has been converting petrol mini-buses into electric vehicles at his workshop, but he is now going a step further to build solar battery-powered buses from scratch in a push to promote clean energy and curb pollution.

Africa’s top producer and exporter of crude oil has heavily-subsidised gasoline and a patchy supply of electricity — a combination that might discourage anyone from investing in electric vehicles.

But Gajibo, a 30-year-old university drop-out and resident of Maiduguri city in Nigeria’s northeast, is undaunted. He says rising global oil prices and pollution make electric vehicles a worthwhile alternative in Nigeria.

At his workshop, he has already stripped combustion engines from 10 mini-buses, powering them with solar batteries. The buses, which have been operating for just over a month, cover a distance of 100 km on a single charge, he said.

Photo courtesy of Louis Kreusel.