BUJUMBURA, March 7th (ABP) – ELECTROMECA held a press conference in Bujumb
ura on Friday 28 February 2025 to officially launch its project to manufacture 100% electric motorbikes.
Speaking at the conference, Yves Mpawenayo, the company’s Managing Director, said that that innovative project had been launched to provide a solution to the problem of fuel shortages, especially for the population of Bujumbura Mayorship.
He added that that initiative was set up to contribute to the national vision of “Burundi as an emerging country in 2040, and developed in 2060”. He added that the money the country spends on importing fuel would be used for other projects if the number of those 100% electric vehicles increased.
He revealed that they began by manufacturing wheelchairs, and then went on to manufacture motorbikes and electric vehicles, adding that those who have benefited from them testify to their effectiveness.
On the same occasion, Mr Mpawenayo presented the new motorbike called “Muravyo” (lightning), manufactured by local mechanics of the same company, a 100% electric and rechargeable motorbike that does not need an oil change.
According to him, the company is receiving a lot of orders for those motorbikes and plans to multiply them, which is why it has opened a shareholding to raise the funds to buy the necessary materials and proceed with the process of multiplying them.
With regard to the price of that motorbike, Mr Mpawenayo said that those electric motorbikes are expensive by nature, but that they have decided to set a promotional price of 5 million BIF, pointing out that in other countries, they are sold at double the price of a motorbike that consumes fuel.
The Muravyo motorbike has the capacity to travel more than 60 km if it is properly charged, depending on the capacity of the battery inserted, he said, adding that the company plans to set up charging stations in various locations in the near future.
Those stations will be powered by solar panels, he added, stressing that they can be charged from any electrical socket.
Mr. Mpawenayo also said that ELECTROMECA has the capacity to convert fuel-powered vehicles into electric vehicles, and that they will soon be modifying public transport vehicles, depending on the availability of resources, to provide them with hybrid engines, using fuel and electricity alternately.
That innovative project, he says, will help to protect the environment, since those motorbikes do not produce greenhouse gases that pollute the environment.
It’s worth to mention that some of the accessories and raw materials used in the manufacture of those machines are imported from abroad, while others are produced locally.