Dar es Salaam. The global transport sector is in the midst of a revolutionary transformation. Electric motors are replacing combustion engines in record time, with the new technology offering a way to lessen the world’s dependency on fossil fuels and slowing climate change.
It is a development Tanzania is very much part of, as The Chanzo reported recently. Electric two- and three-wheelers are introduced to the country in impressive numbers. Electric cars, however, are yet to arrive.
The Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA), which regulates commercial transport in this country, aims to change that, its Director of Road Transport Regulation, Johansen Kahatano, explained during a recent interview with this publication.
READ MORE: How Does Tanzania Roll With the Electric Car Revolution?
“The world is migrating from the use of fossil fuels to the era of electric vehicles,” Kahatano said. “That is the direction we are also trying to take as a regulator.”
Tanzania does not have an official policy on electric vehicles at this moment. It is an omission that LATRA, along with the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) and other partners, aims to change.
It is trying to convince the government to formulate such a policy by mid-2024 at the latest. Kahatano explains: “The policy should put incentives in place for people to switch to electric vehicles.”
Countries like China and Britain have set ambitious targets for replacing conventional cars with electrical ones. Tanzania should follow these examples, Kahatano argues – while also stressing that Tanzania would need to adopt a timeline that reflects its economic capabilities.
READ MORE: Report: Tanzania Has the Largest Number of Electric Vehicles in East Africa
Kahatano highlights the plan to use electric buses in phase two of Dar es Salaam’s Bus Rapid Transit (DART): A fleet of 300 such vehicles built by Scania will be circulating once the expansion of the network is completed, a project which Kahatano calls a “very good beginning.”
Part of the plan is also to deploy electrical Bajaji so that the bus passengers can reach their final destination in a sustainable fashion.
“Our dream is to have all vehicles electrified, or at least to have migrated them from conventional fuels to natural gas,” Kahatano told The Chanzo in the interview.
He also formulates a goal which he thinks is within reach: That five years from now, fifty per cent of commercial vehicles use natural gas or electricity instead of petrol.
Marc Bürgi reports for The Chanzo from Dar es Salaam. He is available at burgimar@gmx.ch.
