Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Preparations for African Electric Mobility Regional Value Chains Kick-off in Rabat

The ECA office for North Africa launched on 16-19 January 2024 in Rabat (Morocco) a workshop on “Developing Regional Value Chains in E-Mobility for Zambia, Morocco, and the DRC.”

This event was organised as part of an ECA project aimed at fostering the emergence of African electric mobility value chains by helping policy makers from the three countries acquire the technical know-how required to develop them.

The workshop provided participants with a better understanding of the economic potential of electric mobility value chains on growth, job creation and market opportunities. It covered the conditions required to create enabling business environments and ecosystems to seize the opportunities provided by the AfCFTA and overcome constraints that must be considered.

Participants also identified countries that can contribute to this regional value chain, identify support measures required and outline an action plan for a partnership framework to develop it.

“By fostering a collaborative ecosystem for the production, distribution, and maintenance of electric vehicles and their components, the Electric Mobility Regional Value Chain can create opportunities for employment creation, skills development and entrepreneurship, along with facilitating progress towards SDGs in Africa, said Zuzana Brixiova Schwidrowski, Director of the ECA office for North Africa at the meeting.

“Our main objective was to contribute to the knowledge of senior policy makers in Morocco, the DRC and Zambia about the steps necessary for development of Regional Value Chains (RVCs) in electric mobility. The workshop put special focus on conditions for the set-up of an enabling business environment that would also promote implementation of the AfCFTA,” said Soumaya Iraqui-Houssaini, Chief of Section for Employment and Skills in the ECA’s North Africa Office.

Key speakers at this event included the Zambian Director of Industry Musokotwane Sichizuwe, the Moroccan ministry of Industry and trade Director of Trade a.i. Youcef Fadil and the Coordinator of the Congolese agency for ecological transition and sustainable development (ACTEDD) Marie Pascale Diatuka Malanda.

The global energy transition and exponential growth of the electric car sector (about US$8 trillion by 2025, US$46 trillion by 2050) are providing African countries with an opportunity to develop regional electric mobility value chains while speeding up the continent’s economic integration.

North Africa could capitalise on the availability of materials needed for the development of an electric mobility value chain in Africa (Cobalt, Lithium, Nickel, Manganese and Graphite). In contrast, countries such as the DRC, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia are well placed to benefit from the extraction and local processing of cobalt and lithium.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).