In her quest for cheaper, more convenient, safer transport in Ghana, entrepreneur Valerie Labi has developed an electronic bike that she says can be charged as easily as a mobile phone.
“It’s a morph between a motorcycle and a bicycle, but it’s electric so you don’t need petrol to ride it. It allows you to carry a load… You can charge them like you would your mobile phone. You go around 140km [87 miles] in range per day,” she told BBC Focus on Africa.
Gig economy workers are her team’s main focus, as well as women vendors in northern Ghana and Togo.
Labi says she had noticed a gap in the market for small vehicles that could deliver the growing number of online orders, but which don’t pollute the air with petrol fumes.
Wahu Mobility’s e-bikes cost US$2,000 (£1,650) upfront, or customers can pay US$30 per week for 24 months after which point they own the vehicle.
“Whilst you pay the subscriptions, we give you delivery demand to make sure you earn enough [money] to take home for you and your family, and pay off the vehicle,” Labi adds.
She says production will begin by the end of the year, at a rate of 200 bikes per month.
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