NCBA Group has partnered with electric mobility company BasiGo to finance 1,000 electric vehicles, supporting Kenya’s transition to cleaner and more sustainable public transport.
The partnership will provide financing through asset finance and leasing, giving public service vehicle operators, businesses and institutions more options to acquire electric vehicles without bearing the full cost upfront.
Under the arrangement, PSV SACCOs and established PSV companies can access financing of up to 90 per cent of the vehicle’s value over 60 months, while individual SACCO members can access up to 80 per cent over 48 months.
Both options come with a discounted processing fee of 1.5 per cent.
The two companies will also support deployment through BasiGo’s Pay-As-You-Drive financing model, which is designed to reduce the initial cost barrier for operators seeking to transition to electric vehicles.
NCBA Group Director of Asset Finance and Business Solutions Lennox Mugambi said the partnership would help connect financing with clean mobility solutions and make electric vehicles more commercially viable.
“The transition to electric mobility is not simply about putting more electric vehicles on the road; it is about creating the financing and infrastructure needed to make them commercially viable at scale,” he said on Wednesday.
Mugambi said the initiative would help operators reduce exposure to rising fuel and maintenance costs while supporting more efficient and environmentally sustainable public transport.
BasiGo CEO and Co-founder Jit Bhattacharya said access to finance remains one of the biggest challenges to expanding electric mobility across Africa.
“We are proud to partner with NCBA to address this problem head-on for operators through affordable and creative financing solutions,” Bhattacharya said.
BasiGo CEO Jitt Bhattacharya (L) shows NCBA's Deputy Director for Leasing Robert Marete during the launch of the partnership between BasiGo and NCBA. PHOTO/Handout
NCBA said the partnership makes it the first local investor to finance BasiGo, reinforcing its role in supporting Kenya’s electric mobility sector.
The bank said it has a Sh2 billion e-mobility financing programme, of which more than Sh800 million has so far been invested in sustainable mobility assets.
The partnership is expected to support the expansion of Kenya’s electric public transport ecosystem while helping businesses and transport operators transition to lower-carbon operations.
It comes as Kenya’s electric mobility sector records rapid growth.
The number of electric vehicles on the country’s roads has risen from about 1,200 in 2023 to more than 35,000 currently, according to industry stakeholders.
The growth has been attributed to collaboration between government agencies, the private sector and development partners, alongside efforts to expand charging infrastructure.
Kenya Power Managing Director and CEO Joseph Siror said in May 2026 that EV growth in Kenya shows how far the sector has come in just three years.
“This is a good moment to look at the journey where we started,” he said.
“Three years ago, when we were having discussions, many people thought this was only a pilot project. Today, we have more than 35,000 electric vehicles on our roads.”
He noted that about 60 to 70 per cent of the vehicles are concentrated within Nairobi.