Barriers to scaling up electric bicycles in eight African countries: infrastructure, policy, cost, and perception

Electric bicycles have experienced rapid growth over the past decade in several regions, while their emergence in African countries has been more recent. This study investigates the barriers to their further diffusion in eight African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, and Morocco. Employing a Delphi mixed-method approach, it draws on the insights of 65 experts who assessed key barriers structured according to the REST framework (Regulation, Environment, Strategy, and Technology). A preliminary examination highlights the features of the models and use cases found in the studied countries. The study then identifies 34 barriers considered relevant by the experts, grouped into ten overarching barriers. Four of these emerge as a network of critical challenges that influence and reinforce each other: the lack of cycling infrastructure; the omission of electric bicycles from e-mobility fiscal incentives and policies; the upfront costs of electric bicycles, affecting their cost competitiveness relative to other vehicles; and the low awareness of electric bicycles, alongside negative perceptions of cycling. The study further highlights that barrier relevance is likely to vary across spatial contexts, user characteristics and use cases. Overall, as a recent form of hybrid mobility that falls between conventional bicycles and motorcycles, electric bicycles warrant further regional investigation. The study identifies future research directions and calls for e-mobility policy frameworks that include electric bicycles.