07/08/2026
We asked Kenya's e-mobility industry to stop presenting and start deciding.
They delivered.
At our 2nd Quarter Roundtable, after a morning of expert panels and open town hall discussions, we did something that does not happen enough in industry forums.
We broke the room into groups, handed them hard questions, and asked them to come back with answers.
Three breakout groups. Three critical themes. One instruction: be specific.
GROUP 1 — Infrastructure, Training & Ecosystem Development
The questions were direct: What is actually stopping e-mobility infrastructure from scaling in Kenya? What support systems need to exist and who should be leading the charge?
This group did not trade in generalities. They identified the structural, financial and institutional barriers holding infrastructure back and mapped the ecosystem conditions needed to unlock adoption from grid readiness and technician training to the stakeholder coordination that is currently missing.
GROUP 2 — Local Assembly & Manufacturing
What are the real barriers to building EVs in Kenya and what would it take to move the needle?
This group brought the full weight of industry experience to the table. They named priority actions, identified the key stakeholders needed to drive the agenda forward, and were unflinching about what is working and what is not. Coming on the same day that a locally assembled Kenyan EV finished 16th out of 62 in the Rhino Charge, this conversation had proof of concept written all over it.
GROUP 3 — Supply-Side Regulations
Perhaps the most forward-looking of the three. The group tackled the question of which regulatory frameworks are most appropriate for Kenya's stage of market development and what opportunities well-designed supply-side regulation could unlock.
Critically, they also asked: what enabling conditions need to be in place before regulation is introduced? Because regulation ahead of readiness does not accelerate markets it stalls them. This group understood that distinction deeply.
When each group presented back to the full room, something shifted.
The recommendations were not vague. They were not aspirational platitudes. They were the kind of specific, stakeholder-attributed, sequenced actions that EMAK can actually take into its advocacy and policy engagement work.
That is what happens when you trust industry to do more than listen.
The outcomes from these breakouts are feeding directly into EMAK's ongoing engagement with regulators, development partners and government institutions. Watch this space.
