MANA Mobility Ltd, a manufacturer of e-cars in Ghana, merged with Cargo Bikes Africa Ltd, an e-mobility start-up in the e-bikes, to create a new entity valued at $20 million.

The outcome of the merger, MANA Mobility, was unveiled in Accra by a German-Ghanaian enterprise focused at creating an ecosystem for e-mobility solutions in Africa. A press statement that announced the merger said Valerie Labi would be the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of the new entity.

Ms Labi is a former co-founder of Cargo Bikes Africa.

Products

The statement said the new company would operate mainly from Ghana but provide services to other African countries.

It said the product portfolio would comprise an open e-mobility platform that connected drivers, passengers and goods in an easily accessible, inclusive, transparent, countrywide and multimodal manner.

It said MANA Mobility was a specialist in the development of electric vehicles, which were affordable, safe, reliable, functional, as well as Ghanaian-designed, engineered and manufactured.

It said Cargo Bikes Africa, on the other hand, was an e-mobility start-up that was innovating mobility processes, boasting partnerships with pan-African e-commerce platforms and supporting to make delivery services more sustainable through the design of local production and subscription of ebikes and e-trikes.

Essence

The statement said both entities were tackling major problems of the transport sector in African cities such as congestion, pollution and unemployment.

Following from the merger, the statement said the deal would combine Cargo Bikes Africa's expertise in electric bike design, production and distribution models with MANA Mobility's experience in manufacturing and global supply chain management and application (App) development.

“The combined entity will be able to produce electric vehicles that meet the needs of African roads and customers,” it said.

Delight

The Chief Executive Officer of MANA Mobility Germany, Peter Schwarzenbauer, said his outfit was thrilled to be partnering Cargo Bikes Africa.

Mr Schwarzenbauer described the company as one that shared the vision of MANA Mobility in creating a world where everyone could access affordable and clean energy transportation solutions that removed barriers to opportunity and enhanced mobility in emerging markets.

“This deal will enable us to make this vision a reality sooner than previously thought, the CEO, a former Board Member of BMW AG, said.

He expressed the hope that the CEO of MANA Mobility would lead to realise its vision of establishing local manufacturing operations for the local production of two, three and four-wheeler e-vehicles (eVs) as well as grow and develop an open-source technology platform that provides an ecosystem of EV services, and create a community of e-drivers and e-riders.