BasiGo Secures Powerful Backing From Proparco to Accelerate 1,000-Bus Electric Expansion in East Africa

East Africa

The French development-finance institution Proparco has completed an equity investment in BasiGo, a Nairobi-based e-mobility firm that supplies electric buses and charging infrastructure to public transport operators in Kenya and Rwanda.

BasiGo currently has over 100 electric buses across Kenya and Rwanda. The company not only assembles its buses locally but also builds and manages the charging and maintenance infrastructure, offering operators a viable, cost-effective alternative to diesel-powered public transit.

According to Proparco, replacing diesel buses with BasiGo’s electric vehicles reduces CO₂ emissions by 70-90%, while also improving road safety and cutting air pollution.

The backing comes as BasiGo accelerates plans to scale up. The company says the fresh funding will help expand local assembly, grow its charging network infrastructure, and advance its ambition to deploy 1,000 electric buses across East Africa.

“Proparco’s investment is a powerful endorsement of the future we are building for African cities,” said Jit Bhattacharya, BasiGo’s co-founder and CEO. “Since 2021, we’ve shown that electric buses offer stronger economics for operators, while cutting emissions and delivering better value for passengers.”

Proparco’s Regional Director for East Africa, Jean Guyonnet-Dupérat, echoed the confidence: backing BasiGo supports cleaner, more sustainable urban mobility, job creation, and reduced carbon emissions, all in line with global climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

As urban populations in Africa continue to grow rapidly and demand for public transit increases, BasiGo’s model, combining local assembly, flexible financing, and infrastructure, may represent a critical test case for whether electric public transit can scale across the region.