Article Summary
- Barely a year after an initial agreement with LAMATA, Oando Clean Energy Limited has launched electric mass transit buses in Lagos state.
- The initiative will create 5000 jobs in the state.
- The buses were manufactured by Yutong.
Oando Clean Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Oando Group will roll out electric mass transit buses in Lagos state. OCEL announced on Tuesday, April 26 that it had taken delivery of electric mass transit buses alongside charging infrastructure and spare parts. This is following a 2022 agreement with the Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA).
Oando says the mass transit buses were made by the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, Yutong. The initiative will enable the employment of at least 3,000 new drivers and an additional 2,000 workers to support bus maintenance, depot management, etc. as well as estimated economic cost savings of $2.6bn (3.6% of Lagos’s GDP).
More Insights
The partnership between Oando and Yutong will help achieve the following goals:
The manufacture and deployment of additional electric buses during the Pilot and Roll-out phases of the partnership with Lagos State through LAMATA.
- Design and facilitate training programs targeted at the following critical stakeholders – bus drivers, bus operators, and regulators including but not limited to LAMATA and the Ministry of Transport.
- Provision of technical support and after-sales service.
- Manage a supply chain network to support the availability of spare parts as and when required.
- The construction of a local EV assembly plant to boost indigenous capacity.
In the statement cited, Frank Lee, the Managing Director for Yutong West Africa said it’s the company’s first delivery of electric mass transit buses in Sub-Saharan Africa. He said:
- “Over the next seven years, and through the rollout of over 12,000 buses, this initiative will transition the current combustion mass transit buses to electric, starting in Lagos State and eventually across the country.”
Also, OCEL Chairman, Adewale Tinubu said the arrival of the electric mass transit buses and the development of an EV infrastructure ecosystem is a reminder that the only way to remain ahead of the curve is by being unafraid to break new ground and consistently looking for opportunities to leapfrog. He said:
- “Public-Private Partnerships have been critical to getting the project to this point and will continue to fuel our expansion across the entire country. I must commend the collaborative efforts of the Lagos State Government through LAMATA in seeing this project through. The commencement of this project gives us a platform to showcase to other states that is possible and open the door for engagements on bespoke solutions to suit their local needs as well as act as a model to be adopted by other organizations looking to venture into sustainable transportation.”
What you should know
On June 6, 2022, Oando put out a statement that it had partnered with LAMATA to roll out electric mass transit buses in Lagos to help curb increased carbon emissions in the state. A part of the statement read:
- “Over the last decade, the number of vehicles on Lagos roads has quadrupled, yet studies suggest that Lagos could become the world’s most populated city by 2100 with as many as 100 million residents; and as the city grows, so does so will the number of vehicles. This upward trajectory in vehicle numbers poses a significant challenge as transportation has been identified as the key contributing sector at circa 23% to 30% in annual CO2 emissions.
- “Against this backdrop, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between LAMATA and OCEL will enable the successful fulfilment of the objectives of the Lagos State Government through the deployment of an EV Infrastructure Ecosystem towards the attainment of a sustainable road transport system in the State.”