Global electric mobility company Zeno has officially entered the East African transport market with the launch of its flagship electric sport utility motorcycle, the Zeno Emara, and an innovative three-mode charging infrastructure. The company, backed by former executives from Tesla, Apple, Ola Electric, SafeBoda, and Bolt, is establishing Kenya as its entry point into the region.
Speaking during the Nairobi launch, Zeno CEO Michael Spencer said the company aims to revolutionize the region’s two-wheeler industry with a purpose-built motorcycle designed for Africa’s terrain and transport needs. The Zeno Emara is engineered to offer enhanced performance, durability, and affordability — key features for the boda boda and commercial delivery sectors.
“With the Zeno Emara, we’ve fundamentally rethought what an electric motorcycle should be for our consumers. The Emara delivers superior performance to comparable petrol bikes while cutting operating costs by 30-50 percent ,” Spencer noted.
Weighing in with a 250kg load capacity, 190mm ground clearance, and robust gradient-handling capabilities, the Emara is designed to outperform conventional electric scooters, which often fall short on rugged roads and full-day usage.
To address the longstanding challenge of EV adoption in Africa — limited access to reliable charging — Zeno has introduced a multi-modal charging network, the first of its kind in the region. The system allows users to swap batteries at stations, fast-charge in under an hour at public hubs, or charge overnight at home, tackling range anxiety head-on.
So far, Zeno has rolled out 40 charging points, enabling seamless travel between Nairobi and towns like Nyeri and Nanyuki. Plans are underway to grow this network to 120 charge points in Nairobi and 500 across Kenya within a year — potentially the most expansive EV network in the country.
The market response has been overwhelmingly positive, with over 15,000 customers registering on Zeno’s waitlist across Kenya, Uganda, and India. The company is offering the Emara at an introductory price of KSh 189,000, which includes KSh 15,000 in free Zeno points (energy credits) and financing options starting from KSh 290 per day.
“Following our Kenya launch, we are immediately expanding to Uganda this week, with plans to enter the rest of East Africa and beyond in the coming months,” added Spencer. “The market is ripe for innovation, and Zeno is ready to scale.”
Zeno has set up two assembly hubs and plans to open nine showrooms across East Africa as part of its regional rollout.
The company’s entry comes at a crucial time as the global push toward electric mobility intensifies. With over 600 million two- and three-wheelers in use across Africa and Asia, mostly relying on fossil fuels, the shift to electric transport presents both a climate imperative and a $400 billion fuel economy opportunity. By reducing emissions and operating costs, Zeno’s model could help reshape commercial and personal mobility in emerging markets.