Spiro, Africa’s largest electric mobility operator, said it has secured $50 million in debt financing to expand its battery-swapping network, as investors increase funding for electric transport across the continent. The financing package includes Afreximbank, climate fintech platform Nithio and the Africa Go Green Fund, the company said in an announcement on Feb. 24.
The company said the capital will be used to extend its battery-swapping stations to existing and new markets. Spiro also said it will advance technology tied to faster energy access for users, including automated battery swaps, fast charging and integrating renewable energy.
Kaushik Burman, Spiro’s chief executive officer, said the funding “reinforces our vision of building a robust, scalable energy network tailored for Africa by Africans.” Spiro’s founder, Gagan Gupta, said the company will use the investment “to deploy energy infrastructure that will contribute meaningfully to a greener future in Africa.”
The announcement came shortly after other deals in Africa’s e-mobility sector pointed to growing institutional confidence. Arc Ride, another e-mobility firm, received a $5 million equity commitment from the International Finance Corp., according to the report. The same period also saw Ugandan e-bike startup Gogo Electric raise $1 million from ElectriFi, the European Union-funded electrification financing managed by the EDFI management firm.
Development financiers framed the sector’s funding as climate and industrial-development support. Raghav Sachdeva, chief investment officer at Nithio, said Spiro is “one of the largest and fastest-growing players in the Pan-African e-mobility market” and described e-mobility as “a critical pillar of Africa’s clean energy transition.” Laurène Aigrain, managing director of Africa Go Green Fund, said the transaction reflects the fund’s commitment to backing businesses that are commercially robust and that deliver measurable environmental and social impact.
Afreximbank officials said supporting the transition to electric mobility is tied to broader economic development aims. Oluranti Doherty, managing director for export development, said “Driving Africa’s transition to electric mobility is central to how we view sustainable economic development across the continent.”
Spiro said it operates in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Benin and Togo, with trials in Cameroon and Tanzania. The company said it has deployed more than 80,000 electric motorcycles, circulated more than 300,000 batteries, completed 30 million battery swaps and established more than 2,500 swap stations; it also said riders have logged more than 1 billion carbon-free kilometers.