Over 64 million wheelchair users worldwide struggle with inaccessible transport and in Kenya, where only 4% of the population own cars, the infrastructure excludes pedestrians and wheelchair users.
To fix this anomaly against people with mobility challenges, Ebikes Africa and Ace Mobility are bridging the gap with electric wheelchair attachments and adapted vehicles—proving mobility is a right, not a privilege.
Two Kenyan innovators, Jorgs Mbugua (CEO of Ebikes Africa) and Dan Kamau (CEO of Ace Mobility), are transforming mobility for people with disabilities across the Global South by using components like motors and other plastic parts sourced from China.
The locally built electric wheelchair attachments and adapted vehicles are breaking barriers—reimagining Chinese EV platforms through partnerships with India, Colombia, and beyond.
Personal stories like Gatura’s shed light on how the needs of people around the innovators inspire solutions like Ace Mobility.
Show Notes:
- AP: Why people with disabilities in Nairobi are looking beyond public transport to navigate busy city by Magdalene Mwaniki
- Business Daily: Jorgs Mbugua designs green future with electric bicycles by James Rogoi
- Condé Nast Traveller: Beyond Barriers: 25 people making the world more accessible for 2025 by Sophie Morgan
About Dan Gatura and Jorgs Mbugua:
Dan Gatura is a Kenyan entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Ace Mobility, a Nairobi-based startup focused on providing accessible and inclusive transportation solutions. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Strategic Management, Gatura has a background in marketing within the public transport sector and experience supplying vans to mobility startups, which informed his understanding of the industry’s challenges and opportunities. Ace Mobility aims to improve public transport for vulnerable populations, including women, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. The company offers safe, reliable, and convenient mobility services, emphasizing comfort and adaptability to commuters’ work shifts. Their services are designed to address the shortcomings of existing public transport providers, which often prioritize profits over passenger comfort and reliability. Under Gatura’s leadership, Ace Mobility has garnered recognition for its commitment to social impact, being nominated among Kenya’s most promising social entrepreneurs under 30. The startup continues to seek funding to expand its range of products, enhance its technology and application, and establish a presence beyond Kenya.
Jorgs Mbugua is a Kenyan entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Ebikes Africa, an electric bicycle company based in Nairobi. Established in 2022, Ebikes Africa aims to provide sustainable and efficient transportation solutions tailored for the African market. The company’s flagship product, the Adventurer 27.5” e-bike, is designed for commuters, businesses, and delivery riders, emphasizing durability and adaptability to local terrains. Before venturing into e-mobility, Mbugua had a background in land administration, having studied at the Technical University of Kenya. He also worked on digitizing land records and was involved in policy formulation, including the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act Regulations in Kenya. Under his leadership, Ebikes Africa has gained recognition, winning the Startup10 Green & Blue Economy Award, which led to Mbugua representing Kenya in Italy. He continues to advocate for sustainable transportation and the adoption of electric mobility solutions across the continent.
Transcript:
NJENGA HAKEENAH: Hello and welcome back to The Africa EV Show. My name is Njenga Hakeenah, and here is where we spotlight the innovators powering the continent’s clean mobility future. And today, we turn our attention to a powerful and often overlooked truth.
Mobility is a right, it is not a privilege and in Nairobi, that right is being reclaimed not just by the usual players in the electric space or electric vehicles but by a growing movement making e-mobility accessible to those who’ve long been left behind, people with disabilities and the elderly.
At the heart of this shift is Ebikes Africa, a company that’s not just deploying EV technology. It’s rethinking who it is for. In collaboration with Ace Mobility, they are harnessing Chinese EV platforms and fusing them with ingenuity from across the Global South, from India to Colombia, to design mobility solutions that work for everyone.
In a country where government support often lags behind citizen innovation, Ebikes Africa is showing what happens when technology meets purpose and when those with limited mobility are finally placed at the center of the transport conversation.
If you care about inclusive design, global south partnerships and the future of accessible mobility, this is the interview you don’t want to miss. Be sure to like, subscribe, share and also hit the notification button. So let’s get into it. So today I’m joined by the CEO of Ebikes Africa Jorgs Mbugua and Ace Mobility CEO Dan Kamau.
These guys are the ones who are doing amazing things in making sure that even those who are in need, special needs, because of movement limitation are not left behind.
So Ebikes Africa is doing something quite rare in the EV space focusing on mobility for people with disabilities. What inspired this mission and what challenges have you faced bringing to life in Kenya?
JORGS MBUGUA: So hello everybody, my name is Jorgs Mbugua, CEO at Ebikes Africa. Ebikes Africa is a Kenyan electric mobility company that is helping people and businesses move sustainably.
So when we began, we started with electric bicycles but we quickly learned that there’s a lot of people who need mobility and also although we were helping people move on two wheels, we found that the problem we were solving for is connecting people to opportunities.
So some of these people who need this the most are wheelchair users and across the world we have over 64 million users who are stuck in homes with limited access to work, education and more opportunities.
So after about two years in operations we started innovating for the differently abled to help them also access mobility opportunities and energy. All right and Dan Kamau is the CEO for Ace Mobility in Africa which is Kenya’s first accessible vehicles startup and this aimed for people living with disabilities.
So if you have a sibling or if you have a parent or a relative who needs to use a wheelchair and then they need to travel either between cities or long distance in vehicles these guys are providing a specialized or specially designed vehicles which can accommodate wheelchairs without creating discomfort either for the passengers in that vehicle or for the person with disability who has to use that vehicle.
So Dan, you are partnering with Ebikes Africa but before we get to that I would want to understand why you thought about modifying vehicles so that you can provide transport for people with disability.
And if you look even at government policy, very few people think about you know people with needs or with special needs especially people living with disabilities. What inspired you to do this?
DAN GATURA: Hi everyone, my name is Daniel Gatura co-founder and CEO of Ace Mobility. Thank you very much for allowing me this particular opportunity. For me, Ace Mobility is personal.
When I was six years old my dad got into an accident and he became paraplegic. This means he started using a wheelchair just I mean and because of that this particular incident, he was then dismissed from work. Reason is he was unable to get a transport solution that would serve him from home to work and back.
This really affected how he then was able to provide for our family and even my education my sister’s education. Years later, I joined the ride hailing space as a driver and as a supplier and the same problem that my dad faced then comes back and so being a driver, I used to get requests from a number of people but I usually found purpose when I was offering the much-needed support to people with reduced mobilities.
Most of the clients I serve the first question usually was why are you doing this? It’s not something we see from any other driver I mean who we get or who the platform then directs them to us and my response was simple.
Transport is a right and everyone needs a transport solution that meets their needs. It’s just for the driver to learn and understand how to offer the much-needed extra support and that’s why I built Ace Mobility.
NJENGA: All right that’s a very interesting take that the inspiration was your father who was in an accident and then becoming a paraplegic and then experienced the challenges that people with disability have to deal with on a daily basis.
Because this is not like something that you get off yourself and then say I’m picking this problem tomorrow, but then again, it has to start somewhere. It has to start somewhere. And so you have partnered with EBikes Africa for the wheelchair motorization but then you can walk us through how your partnership with Ebikes Africa works especially in blending these technologies because now you have to move from a wheelchair because it’s like a value chain it’s like a complete chain.
They are producing the wheelchairs, they are motorizing them but then for the users, you have to move them from point A to point B so probably you can just walk us through how this partnership works.
Gatura: Yes. so as Ace Mobility, our biggest product is a transport service. Or transport as a service solution where we provide adapted vehicles. The adapted vehicles come in with two major specifications.
One is mostly a wheelchair ramp so we are able to push someone when they’re still seated on their wheelchairs into the vehicle and they get to travel while seated at the comfort of their wheelchairs. The second adaptation is a swivel seat which is able to lift the vehicle and lower to the ground so someone is able to easily transfer from their wheelchair or any other assistive device onto this particular seat and then the seat now lifts them into the vehicle.
So our solution was usually, and rather, is meant for our longer distances and that’s why we then looked at how then do we solve short distances or even commute within the estates. We see a growing number of people and even the elderly population who are now able to walk around the estates walk around the cities or just walk around the neighborhood and so we thought as we serve this particular group of people how do we then allow them and offer them an opportunity to walk around their estates or where they live?
And that’s how then we got to partner with Ebikes Africa to then create these new add-ons where we could then now attach them onto their wheelchairs and then they become electric just giving them the same advantage as able people as they are able to walk around their estates. And then people with reduced mobilities could also do the same and could then get to participate in the society.
This motorization also helps them to even do simple errands like going to the shop or going to the markets and where ideally they wouldn’t need a vehicle for the movement and so it’s a value chain.
Ebikes Africa provides the batteries and all these adaptations and then for us it’s to look for market for the people we serve and the people who are our clients we then also second this to them and they could then use it for shorter distances.
NJENGA: Alright. Mbugua, I know that uh for you to be able to provide these seats to uh Dan um Kamau and for the people that you are targeting, it’s a minority in our societies.
And so when we talk about these minorities, they have huge needs because you cannot move from even within your house, from the couch or from the bed to the toilet or to the bathroom. It’s a big challenge.
But then I see that you’re collaborating not just with fellow Kenyans but you’re also working with Colombians, with the British, with Indians and these are Global South kind of collaborations. So what um is this partnership like for you or what are these partnerships like for you when you’re working with all these people from the Global South, apart from the British who are not in the Global South.
MBUGUA: So this is a problem that affects every one of us. Although we don’t regularly see wheelchair users, it’s simply because the infrastructure is not there for them to be seen. A lot of these people stay stuck in their homes and in hospitals and their movement is dependent on having another person move them around and their life also coming to a halt.
So there’s a lot of people who are hidden away from view who need our help and just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. We’re working on this project with very many stakeholders and to bring this to the to the world sustainably we’re working with the Colombian organization called Matt, an Indian one called NeoMotion the FCDO, that’s the British government, Global Disability and Inclusivity Hub, Frontier Tech Hub, Kenya Disability Institute and many many many more Hope Mobility.
So it’s truly a global push and we chose to do this in the Global South so that we make sure that if it works here it can work anywhere else. So here we have finance challenges, we have awareness challenges infrastructure so we’ve really had to think outside of the box.
How can we not only build these wheelchairs wheelchair attachments affordably but also how can we influence policy? How can we influence infrastructure? And how can we make it such that when the people get the wheelchairs they can then earn financially and support themselves and their families yeah sustainably.
So this is not this is not a project to give out things for free, this is a project to build a system that lasts way beyond our lifetimes.
NJENGA: Right.
MBUGUA: Yeah.
NJENGA: Because philanthropy may not get people to the last mile because you know funding dries up and things like that but then again it has to start somewhere. But before we get to a place where we have or we are saying that people can be able to travel without limitation then, we have to start somewhere.
But Mbugua, when we look at Kenya’s infrastructure the engineering is very biased against non-motorized be it pedestrians be it wheelchair users our engineering is for the well-to-do basically for whoever is making the policies but not for the people who are at the bottom. But you have brought in something that you have to think about people who are often relegated to the back and when we talk about relegation, it’s about they are forgotten even in policy making unless somebody comes like yourself and says we have to push this for these people, then nothing will happen in that space.
And so when we are talking about the infrastructure because Kenyan infrastructure excludes people with disabilities, how are the electric bikes specifically designed to bridge this gap for everyday mobility for Dan’s dad, for my brother who is in a wheelchair and for everyone else who has to use a wheelchair?
MBUGUA: So the first part is terrain. So considering that wheelchair users are only forced to use paved platforms then we have built a device that can be attached to any wheelchair so you don’t need to buy an entire complete set again. This device uses parts that are used to fix bicycles. So you add those parts to your wheelchair and then you attach the electric part onto it. Now the attachments enable people to go over any terrain.
You can ride the wheelchair on grass, you can add it on gravel, you can ride it in the mud and you can ride it uphill. We know some places in Nairobi are very hilly so we needed first to get that part right where the person can leave the house and go anywhere. We’ve tested out our wheelchairs in slums in Korogocho in Kibera and all over Nairobi, Thika road many places you can think of Waiyaki Way.
And the reason for this is to make sure that we’re building devices that are adapted for Africa and and by extension the whole of the world. When it comes to infrastructure, I’ve got to give props to quite a few institutions that have really helped. We have the United Nations Environment Program. They have active mobility program and an electric mobility program.
So they have also a program called Share The Road where they’re helping non-motorized transport users access different parts of the city. This has been a huge success and now in Nairobi any time the government does any sorts of road the UNEP helps us by setting up the Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) lanes for wheelchair users and for and for cyclists and pedestrians.
I’ve also got to say a big thank you to organizations like JICA as well who’ve also done an amazing job. If you’ve gone through Ngong Road, the entire Ngong Road has cycling lanes. The UNEP program Share The Road has worked extremely well that it’s now being replicated in nine other african cities including Mombasa where an expressway is being done with a cycling lane which is unheard of in Kenya. So more and more awareness has really helped and also the fact that we have a huge transport problem here in Africa only four percent of people own vehicles.
And we’re seeing a study recently on January 29th that 73 percent of people walk so there’s a huge need here our roads are extremely congested there’s a lot of urban rural migration so we’ve had to really think out of the box. And by us coming together different stakeholders in the private sector, government and in the development space we’re slowly seeing a change.
I’m pretty confident that our children and the next generation is going to enjoy the shade of this tree that we plant.
NJENGA: Thinking about and it’s just four percent who are driving in Kenya yet all the infrastructure is designed for them locking everybody out then there has to be a challenge to that status quo. We have to challenge this status quo because people living with disability are our people they are our siblings our fathers our friends they are everywhere.
But we cannot just say that it’s a small minority so we cannot make infrastructure inclusive for them that they can travel comfortably without having to have someone always around them so that they can be able to do the very basic things that every human being should be able to do for them.
MBUGUA: So we’re also working on an accessibility map for the entire Nairobi using our wheelchair users and partnering with software developers around the world so right now wheelchair users are going around Nairobi and mapping their route so that we can share this information with governments to improve the accessibility routes all over yeah.
NJENGA: Nice so thank you. I hope that the engineers who get to watch this will do what needs to be done for the non-motorized road users especially the wheelchair users and also for pedestrians because many things that happen on our roads, it’s for tears.
Anyway, Kamau,we have noticed that many African governments are very slow to adopt inclusive mobility policies do you see local innovations like yours outpacing this policy and what role should the public sector be playing in this space?
KAMAU: Well, that’s quite a challenging question speaking into for example what the government is currently doing. From us or rather from where we sit as an accessible transport provider, we are yet to enjoy any perks provided by the government. This then also makes our our solution slightly expensive. Looking into for example even the wheelchair add-on that we’re building it’s also quite heavily taxed.
Even for us as an uh with the wheelchair accessible vehicles they’re still taxed and what we’re just trying to do is to solve a problem in the society but still government wants to make revenue from it but then it’s not even allowing the innovators themselves to make revenue from it. Because if we add a margin it becomes extremely expensive. And so as at right now we are yet to receive any government backing but we are still trying to you know talk more about the products that we have.
We’re trying to come up with products that are sustainable using environmentally friendly materials we’re looking at even battery recycling and even looking at how then we create an interlink between us as a transport provider and the wheelchair user themselves and even this electric add-on for how do we combine all these things all these solutions and then reduce carbon emission for example where someone doesn’t need our vehicle we then you know allow them to lease or utilize this electric add-on for their wheelchair.
And so with that we’re trying to come up with more affordable solutions but we really hope that the government gives us a listening ear. All we’re requesting for is at least just allow us to come in have a sit down share with you what we’re building and then see how we could collaborate to make it better.
Because as you’ve said and just to echo your words is most people are actually not born with disabilities they find themselves there just one accident or one incident you know could make you either permanently or temporary I mean or just for a very short period a person with reduced mobility.
And so we shouldn’t just build solutions and look at building these solutions as solutions for persons with disabilities we should then build inclusive solutions whereby in any case where you find yourself in this solution then I mean you find yourself with this problem or with this challenge you’re then not left behind so let’s build societies for everyone and not just for the able-bodied people.
NJENGA: Right and looking ahead for both of you Mbogwa and Kamau what are your plans for scaling this model across Africa I know you have said Mbugua that some of the innovative approaches that you’ve taken have been replicated across like nine cities in Africa two in Nairobi I mean two in Kenya I think Nairobi and Mombasa right and so how can others whether startups or investors get involved in supporting inclusive mobility?
KAMAU: The support that we’ll currently request is more so from the private sector and even government.
One, allow us to show you what we’re currently building but also then two, work with us to make these solutions. We are looking for I mean we are working with people who’ve built this solution elsewhere in the world. Instead of starting then innovating from scratch are we able to share what we’ve learned within I mean in different countries what is working and what’s not working and how then do we try then package that solution for Africa.
And even for Kenya, looking into for example what we’re doing as Ace Mobility these are solutions that are openly available in the US and the UK being that the travel ride hailing apps over there have embraced wheelchair accessible vehicles and their assist services so our call is that we request people that have built these solutions out there reach out to us help us build local solutions.
We’ll give you the local challenges and let’s innovate together for government and even investors for example provide some little funding for us to even pilot some of these solutions that we’re coming up with so that at least we try them on ground so that we see that it works also helps us help us make them affordable you know. You might have learned a thing or two about recycling or what other materials you could use to then make most of these solutions so we are open to partnerships we are open to hearing what other people have done out there and also collaborating with them to create solutions that are fit for Africa by Africans.
But then also we need to do this including people with reduced mobility themselves we build these solutions with them at heart and most of our team members for example my team is made up of six people three of whom are people with disabilities.
We need to make them part and parcel of our team so that as we are coming up with these solutions we are coming up with solutions for them by them and for their use.
NJENGA: All right Mr Mbugua, any parting shots?
MBUGUA: To scale this we’ve really had to think out of the box especially on the affordability part. One solution we see is building devices locally and right now we have for example piloted by building two batteries locally using second life cells from other users like solar and such and we built that locally a recycling material.
Also we’ve started building the devices themselves locally using locally available steel and workman and workmanship. So this definitely brings down the cost and it spreads the knowledge into our communities. Another thing is support from corporates support from customers families and people who interact with people with disabilities.
At the end of the day sales heals all so we do encourage you if you know somebody at home please tell them not to lose hope try out some of these devices and the locally available solutions. Finally, we invite investors, impact investors, philanthropists to also help stoke this fire. It’s a very young space here in Africa and we can unlock a huge section of the population and give them access to jobs, education and a better life just by enabling these technologies.
We also need some understanding from government when it comes to policy, tax incentives. There’s a huge opportunity here and this is a section of the population that needs to be seen, heard and catered to. Yeah.
NJENGA: Thank you so much Mr Mbugua and Dan Kamau. Dan Kamau is the CEO of Ace Mobility which is modifying vehicles to enable people living with disability to move long distances with ease and in comfort and Jorgs Mbugua is the CEO for Ebikes Africa.
Please don’t confuse this with eBikes for Africa which is from Botswana and as always we can tell that innovations in Africa are just solutions to local problems but with an international approach but we have seen that all this has to be done in collaboration with government with private partners and everyone else who is a stakeholder.
Guys, it’s been good to have you and this conversation can continue on and on and we can never get to the end of it because disabilities are among us but what would be your parting shots?
MBUGUA: So Ebikes Africa is now doing a project with very many stakeholders. We are piloting our wheelchair attachments in Nairobi we want them to be economically sustainable and environmentally sustainable. The attachments use parts regular parts used by electric bicycles and right now we are piloting different revenue streams for our users. So we have a couple of devices in the country and we’re looking to partner with hospitals, with self-help groups with corporates to find ways that we can make this long-term sustainable.
As a member of the public, if you want to take part in our program please follow us on social media. We often host events where people can use these devices and experience what life feels like you know at half height so in a wheelchair come and see what life is like and see the impact we are making people’s lives and play a part a small part that you can yeah so we welcome you yeah visit us online.
NJENGA: Alright. So Danny.
KAMAU: I’ll end by a very controversial statement. If we are lucky we will all become people with reduced mobilities. If we are lucky before we proceed to the afterlife we’ll become people with reduced mobilities. Why? Because we might age.
And even the senior citizens they require some sort of support to move from one place to another. And so that’s why we are pushing to make these solutions right now when we are able to so that when we get older or when we and if we become people with reduced mobilities, then we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor of what we’re building right now.
So let’s build solutions for everyone not just abled people. Let’s come up with solutions that will help us even as we are growing or even as we are aging. Yes, let’s make cities and countries that are accessible for everyone irregardless of their abilities.
For us as Ace Mobility we are piloting different models into all the services we are offering. for example even with the accessible vehicle service and even with the new I mean add-on for the wheelchairs, we are looking at less solutions we are looking at short-term hires we are looking at full-on purchases we are looking at even financing for people who will then be willing to either buy the vehicles or buy this particular add-ons.
And so we are continue or rather we continue to come up with different innovations and different solutions. But if you have an answer or you have an idea of how this could work then also reach out to us on all our social media platforms which is at Ace Mobility or at Ace Mobility KE and we are open for partnerships to make this work for everyone.
Persons with reduced mobilities are our brothers our sisters are our parents so let’s remember let’s make them part and parcel of the society thank you.
NJENGA: Thank you so much and guys their contacts are at the bottom of this video in the show notes so please make sure that you get in touch and if there is a way you can support, as always it is welcome.
There is no little support. In Africa we say haba na haba hujaza kibaba (little by little we end up filling that savings container) or whatever it is that we are putting towards. So please it’s there is nothing that is too little that you can do as long as you have done something.
The hardest to do is starting or zero to one but when you get to one, then it becomes a highway for you. So we look forward to seeing these grow and many more people living with disability getting to move from one point to another because at the end of the day none of us want to be confined to just one space looking at the ceilings or counting you know or building castles in the air because we need all of us to move.
People with disability are part of us and I hope that we can make this count for everyone that we know that we do not know, whoever comes in the future and they need to move let us make it count.
OUTRO: That wraps up our conversation with the CEO of Ebikes Africa — a company that’s proving electric mobility isn’t just about technology, but about inclusion, access, and dignity. From building partnerships across the Global South to reimagining transport for people with disabilities, this is innovation at its most impactful.
If this conversation inspired you, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share this video. Tap the notification bell so you never miss an update on Africa’s fast-evolving EV landscape. And as always, stay curious, stay critical, and stay connected.
See you on the next episode of The Africa EV Show.
