Mobility for Africa is named in global climate award for its work in powering agriculture in the Global South.

Mobility for Africa has been named as a runner-up in the prestigious Ashden Awards for climate innovation for its work in providing affordable, reliable, and renewably powered electric transport to help farmers get their businesses moving. The announcement was made at a global celebration in London on Tuesday 14 November.

There was strong competition for the awards and Mobility for Africa was chosen from over 200 applicants for its pioneering work and will receive publicity and support to grow and replicate their innovation.

Mobility for Africa was runner-up in the award for Powering Agriculture.

The annual Ashden Awards showcase the ground-breaking initiatives of climate pioneers that are showing what is possible in the shift to a fairer low carbon future. To maximise impact, the climate solutions charity also makes connections with funders, investors, policymakers and others, providing a global platform to showcase their work.

Mobility for Africa, operating in Zimbabwe, has been working to bring green mobility solutions to rural small-scale farmers, especially women through a shared fleet of E tricycles using off-grid energy and a battery-swapping management system.  Since 2019 the social enterprise has been working to demonstrate the impact of mobility on local economies, gender inequality and improved service delivery. Thanks to support from EEP Africa, Toyota Mobility Foundation, AECF and investors InfraCo Africa and PIDG, it has invested in bespoke batteries, integrated charging systems and skills to replicate and scale across the continent.

“The journey to pilot, build and demonstrate a viable model to solve the enormous burden of rural last-mile mobility in Africa, especially for women, has taken a lot longer than we had initially envisioned. Being recognized by the Ashden Award as a finalist is an important acknowledgement that it is worth taking risks, being determined and staying true to our vision,” said Shantha Bloemen, the Founder and CEO of Mobility for Africa.

Mobility for Africa was among winners and runners-up from Liverpool to Nairobi, Wales to Peru working in a range of industries, including greening our cities, transforming refugees’ livelihoods, training people for jobs linked to land management and protecting endangered forests.

Ashden CEO Ashok Sinha said, “This year’s Ashden Award winners prove that people are passionate about creating practical solutions to the climate emergency. Just look what happens as a result: higher incomes, better health, stronger communities and the creation of new jobs. These brilliant solutions need serious backing from policymakers and investors.” 

“From our experience electric mobility in rural Africa is a critical catalyst for small scale farmers to better improve their productive, better access markets and reduce the time and cost of transport adds to their daily burden.”Explains Shantha Bloemen, Mobility for Africa CEO.

Hambas are designed for women, travel up to 100km on a single charge of MFA’s bespoke batteries, with a carrying capacity of up to 400kg.

To watch all of this year’s winners, watch here: The 2023 Ashden Awards London Ceremony + live online viewing – Ashden