President William Ruto graced the Africa Climate in Nairobi while driving himself in an electric car on September 3, 2023.
The Head of State, who has been vocal on the need to conserve the environment, arrived at the event at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) while leading an all-electric motorcade ahead of the climate summit.
The Africa Climate Summit has drawn together more than 30,000 leaders and investors from Africa and beyond, including 25 Heads of State and government.
The summit comes weeks after President Ruto pledged to reduce taxes on the cost of production of electric vehicles and motorbikes in the country.
The move is aimed at promoting eco-friendly transportation solutions.
President Ruto, who has been a strong advocate for renewable energy, has also emphasized his administration’s dedication towards sustainable transportation during his recent visit to the Roam Park motorcycle assembly plant in Nairobi earlier this week.
He expressed his goal to significantly increase the production of e-motorbikes, aiming to raise the current production rate of 2,000 units to an impressive 200,000 by the end of 2024.
“We want to have over 200,000 electric boda bodas by the end of next year. We have agreed with some companies, so we have reduced five different taxes as a show of support for the project,” the Head of State pointed out.
In a related move, the government has stepped up measures to secure the delegates in the country for the Summit.
On the eve of the event, a number of roads connecting to the event were cordoned off. Similarly, uniformed and plain clothes policemen have been spotted patrolling the area, and several other parts of Nairobi’s Central Business District.
“Specialized units have also been deployed at strategic locations to provide technical security support during this period, ” Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo said.
The government has also encouraged public service vehciles to partner with e-vehicles in a bid to also reduce on cost.
