Kenya’s government has made what might be its most significant electric vehicle commitment yet. The National Treasury is scrapping a planned purchase of 2,500 petrol and diesel vehicles for government use and replacing the order with 3,000 electric vehicles that will be assembled in the country.
Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi made the announcement while appearing before the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee. He framed the decision in blunt economic terms, pointing to the Middle East conflict and the damage it is doing to global oil supply chains.
“We must reduce reliance on fossil fuels and go to electric vehicles,” Mbadi told lawmakers.
Why now?
The timing is not accidental. Since the United States and Israel launched large-scale strikes on Iran on 28 February 2026, global oil markets have been in turmoil. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas transits, has been disrupted. Murban crude, the benchmark Kenya uses, surged from around $63.6 per barrel in February to above $116 before settling near $95.9 by mid-March.
For a country that imports all its petroleum, this kind of volatility is more than an inconvenience. Petroleum products account for about 20 per cent of Kenya’s total import bill. In 2023, the country spent approximately KES 628 billion on fuel imports alone. Every spike in crude prices translates directly into pressure on the shilling, higher transport costs, and food price inflation.
Mbadi’s argument is straightforward: the less the government spends on fuel, the more insulated the economy becomes from these external shocks.
What the order actually means
The shift from 2,500 fuel vehicles to 3,000 electric ones is notable for two reasons. First, the government is increasing the number of vehicles, not just swapping them. Second, and more importantly, these vehicles must be assembled locally. Mbadi confirmed the Treasury has secured a supplier who will handle assembly in Kenya.
He did not name the supplier. However, MojaEV Kenya recently announced plans to begin local assembly in partnership with Associated Vehicle Assemblers in Mombasa. The company, backed by Chinese investors, imports brands including Neta, Skyworth, and Wuling. Their entry-level units start at around KES 2.5 million, with prices expected to drop once local assembly begins.
Whether MojaEV is the secured supplier or not, the direction is clear: the government wants to use its own purchasing power to create guaranteed demand for local assembly.
A market that needs the push
Kenya’s electric vehicle numbers tell a revealing story. According to data from the Electric Mobility Association of Kenya (EMAK), roughly 14,750 EVs were registered between 2018 and 2024. That sounds reasonable until you look at the breakdown. Only 326 of those are passenger cars. The overwhelming majority, close to 90 per cent, are two- and three-wheelers used for commercial transport.
Electric cars have struggled to gain traction for a simple reason: cost. New electric vehicles compete not against new petrol cars, but against Kenya’s massive used-car import market. A second-hand petrol vehicle benefits from depreciation-based tax rules that make it significantly cheaper than a new EV at the point of sale. Until that pricing gap narrows, private buyers will keep choosing petrol.
This is why government procurement matters. By placing a 3,000-unit order, the Treasury creates the kind of scale that can begin to bring prices down. Hezbon Mose, president of EMAK, put it plainly: “To accelerate uptake, we need critical mass. The more vehicles in the market, the lower the prices become.”
The bigger picture
This announcement does not exist in a vacuum. Kenya launched its National Electric Mobility Policy in February 2026, establishing a framework for EV adoption, charging infrastructure, and industrial development. The Finance Bill 2025 already introduced zero-rated VAT on electric buses, bicycles, motorcycles, and lithium-ion batteries. The government is now preparing further incentives through the Tax Laws Amendment Bill.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s neighbours are moving quickly. Ethiopia has banned imports of internal combustion engine vehicles entirely and scaled its EV fleet to over 115,000 units. Rwanda has made steady progress with targeted incentives, particularly in motorcycle electrification.
Kenya’s advantage is its grid. Over 90 per cent of its electricity comes from renewable sources, primarily geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar. We are also building up on Nuclear Energy. That means every EV on a Kenyan road runs on some of the cleanest energy in the world. It also means the country has a genuine story to tell about reducing emissions, not just shifting them from the tailpipe to the power station.
What to watch
The real test comes next. Mbadi’s announcement needs to survive the journey from parliamentary committee room to actual procurement order. The upcoming finance bill will determine whether additional tax incentives make electric cars competitive for ordinary buyers, not just the government fleet. Charging infrastructure remains thin outside Nairobi. And the question of which supplier will assemble these 3,000 vehicles, and how quickly, is still unanswered.
But the signal is significant. When the Treasury puts its budget behind a technology transition, it tends to create momentum that outlasts any single procurement cycle. Kenya’s electric vehicle market just got the biggest push it has ever received from the public purse.
