Spiro, ESP kick off pilot programme in Rwanda, aiming to support 5,000 women entrepreneurs

Spiro, Africa’s leading electric mobility company, and Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners (ESP), a pan-African firm specialising in entrepreneurship development, have launched the Women in E-Mobility programme in Rwanda, an initiative designed to help women become professional electric motorcycle riders, develop their own businesses and generate sustainable income.

The programme is already underway, with the first 50 women having started training October 2026. They form the first cohort of a pilot targeting 500 women in Rwanda, before a planned expansion to other African markets to reach 5,000 participants by 2030.

This initiative reflects Spiro’s ambition to ensure that the growth of electric mobility in Africa creates new opportunities for women. While motorcycles are a major source of employment in transport, delivery and logistics, women remain largely underrepresented in the sector.

In Rwanda, women account for just 4 per cent of transport workers, despite a 2025 study in Kigali finding that 47.7 per cent of women surveyed would consider becoming motorcycle taxi drivers.

The Women in E-Mobility programme aims to address these challenges by providing participants with practical motorcycle riding and road safety training, financial literacy, digital skills and entrepreneurship support. Women will also gain access to affordable financing, including lease-to-own arrangements, enabling them to acquire Spiro electric motorcycles and use its battery-swapping network.

Beyond access to vehicles, the programme will connect participants with ride-hailing, delivery and logistics platforms, helping them secure customers and build sustainable businesses.

Through this approach, Spiro and ESP aim to encourage more women to pursue careers in electric mobility and contribute to the sector’s growth.

“Electric mobility is creating new economic opportunities across Africa, and we want more women to be part of this transformation. Through this programme, we are giving women the tools to become professional drivers, build their own businesses and generate income. Our ambition is to encourage a new generation of women entrepreneurs who will help shape the future of mobility on the continent,” said Anant Badjatya, Group CEO of Spiro.

The programme combines Spiro’s electric mobility infrastructure with the entrepreneurship expertise of Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners (ESP), a pan-African firm helping entrepreneurs access financing, develop their skills and grow their businesses.

“For women entrepreneurs, having access to a motorcycle is only the first step. Building a successful business also requires skills, financing, customers and ongoing support. By combining ESP’s entrepreneurship expertise with Spiro’s electric mobility ecosystem, we want to create practical and sustainable economic opportunities for women,” said Eric Kacou, Co-founder and CEO of Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners.

Rwanda was selected as the starting point for the programme, building on its growing electric mobility ecosystem and Spiro’s established local presence, including its assembly operations and battery-swapping network.

The initial pilot will help assess participants’ progress, income generation and business performance before the programme is progressively extended to other African countries where Spiro operates between 2027 and 2030.

To support this expansion, Spiro and ESP are seeking to engage development finance institutions, impact investors, governments and commercial partners to facilitate access to financing, strengthen training and expand commercial opportunities.

Through Women in E-Mobility, both partners aim to demonstrate how the transition to cleaner transport can also encourage women’s entrepreneurship, create jobs and support economic development across Africa.

The post Spiro, ESP kick off pilot programme in Rwanda, aiming to support 5,000 women entrepreneurs appeared first on KBC Digital.