Ethiopia is one of the countries that do not export oil and have no ports.
Ethiopia, which annually spends up to four billion dollars on fuel in various ways, has focused on electric vehicles.
Every year, the country imports hundreds of thousands of vehicles from China, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries through the port of Djibouti.
The country is known for imposing a tax of over 100 percent on vehicles, but on the contrary, it has set up special incentives for importers of motorized vehicles and allowed them to import a tax of less than 5 percent.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide, stated that the special support given to electric vehicle importers and assembling factories is done deliberately to reduce the country’s fuel costs.
Electric vehicles have started to appear in the capital city of Addis Ababa. The number of electric charging stations has also increased from 5 to 30.
Electric vehicle owners still say the number of charging stations should be expanded everywhere.
Melaku Taye is an electric vehicle driver; He said he would have trouble finding a charging station in the areas of the city where he travels.
Since my home is an apartment, I don’t have an electric charging line from the second floor down to charge my car; Therefore, I will be forced to charge in the office, he explained.
Another driver, Mr. Solomon Bertha, said that the efforts to spread electric cars are encouraging. However, he expressed his opinion that charging stations should be easily available everywhere.
Electric vehicles have increased in demand in Ethiopia in terms of reducing environmental pollution and saving fuel costs, but the problem of charging stations needs to be solved in a sustainable way. For this reason, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics has announced that it will continue its efforts to solve the problem.
Getnet Tesfamariam