Responding to the call for proposal to Climate Change Innovation Award under Environmental Affairs Department in the Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources in Partnership with United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), Wupla Enterprise proposed electric motorbike taxi as a catalyse to decarbonization of transport sector in Malawi. The project is titled “Electric motorbike taxi: dipping the ‘kabaza’ environmental and travel costs in Malawi” and seeks to address the problem of greenhouse emission in the transport sector of Malawi through introduction of electric motorbikes as a better and safer alternative to petrol-powered motorcycle in the now accepted motorcycle taxi industry in Malawi. Furthermore, the project outcomes are anticipated to promote evidence-based decision on adaptation of electric transport in Malawi. Additionally, it offers social-economic benefits through operation of the project motorbikes as social enterprise in the project impact area.

The project whose objective is introduce electric motorbikes into Malawian motorbike taxi industry, engineered to Malawian rural roads terrain, loading conditions, and riding distances; targets (i) the youths that are enthusiastic to run motorcycle taxi business and learn electric motorcycle repair, (ii) organizations that use motorcycles in their operations, (iii) policy makers; and (iv) sustainable energy and climate change stakeholders.

During execution of this project, the following activities will be undertaken

1. Sensitize the community about the project

2. Inclusive design through collective intelligence.

3. On-job training to interns identified from the surrounding community

4. Installation of Solar PV electricity at the project site

5. Instituting the production workshop all tools and equipment required frame fabrication, trimmings, motorbike assembly, and charging of the motorbikes

6. Produce electric motorcycles engineered to suit Malawi conditions

7. Training on safe riding of the electric motorbikes

8. Certification of the motorbikes with relevant regulating authority

9. Offering hire out services to the youths in the community that will be running electric motorbikes as taxi business

10. Marketing and sales of electric motorcycle to organizations and individuals

By the end of the project, we project the following results

1. At least 5 electric motorbikes will be operational as taxis in the community and thus the community becomes aware of benefits of electric motorbikes

2. Organizations and individuals become convinced of the reliable performance of electric motorbikes and hence uptake of electric motorbikes increases.

3. There will be an annual reduction of CO₂ emission by 6.87 Mt.

4. The youths in the community will be economically empowered.

From policy perceptive, project will provide evidence-based policy briefs that can be formulated into national transport policy or and transport policies at institutional level.