
Electric vehicles - fixing Africa's fuel crisis?
From Focus on Africa by BBC World Service
April 16, 2026 · 23 min
About this episode
The episode explores the viability of electric vehicles in Africa amidst rising fuel prices and discusses efforts to reduce fashion waste through upcycling.
Kenya is the latest African country to increase fuel prices citing the US-Israel war with Iran. While announcing one of the steepest pump price increments in recent times, the government reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel products from 16% to 8%, as the country's political opposition threatens street demonstrations if measures to lower prices further are not taken. In this episode - we explore if electric vehicles are a viable transport alternative in African countries. Also, the global fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year with much of it ending up in landfills or being burned, according to the United Nations. We hear a Nigerian fashion designer's journey to curb rising fashion waste through upcycling. Presenter : Nkechi Ogbonna Producers: Bella Twine and Blessing Aderogba Technical Producer: Davis Mwasaru Senior Producer: Charles Gitonga Editor: Maryam Abdalla
People in this episode
Host: Nkechi Ogbonna
Topics covered
- electric vehicles
- fuel crisis
- Kenya
- fashion waste
- upcycling
- political opposition
Keywords
- electric vehicles
- fuel prices
- Kenya
- fashion industry
- textile waste
- upcycling
- Value Added Tax
- political opposition
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: United Nations
Places: Kenya
More episodes of Focus on Africa
- Is the internet dividing men and women? · June 12, 2026 · 23 min
- Africa's World Cup dream: controversy and opportunity · June 11, 2026 · 23 min
- DRC: How armed conflict is affecting Ebola response · June 10, 2026 · 23 min
- Nigeria: Freed from Boko Haram · June 9, 2026 · 23 min
- African prisoners of war in Ukraine · June 8, 2026 · 23 min
- ‘More than my ovaries’: Redefining PCOS · June 5, 2026 · 23 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Focus on Africa podcast page.