Kenya-based African electric mobility company Spiro has appointed Anant Badjatya as group chief executive officer, the company announced on June 9, as it seeks to accelerate expansion across its African markets.

Spiro has emerged as one of the continent's largest electric mobility operators, deploying electric motorbikes and battery-swapping networks in several markets including Benin, Togo, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. It has now deployed more than 100,000 electric motorcycles and established over 2,500 battery-swapping stations.

The announcement of Badjatya’s appointment comes one week after Spiro said it had raised $215mn in fresh equity funding as the company accelerates expansion of its electric motorcycle and battery-swapping infrastructure business across Africa’s rapidly growing urban transport market.

The funding round was backed by investors including Impact Fund Denmark and Equitane, and came just four months after Spiro secured $50mn in debt financing – and less than a year after a separate $100mn equity investment led by Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the investment arm of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

Before joining Spiro, Badjatya held senior leadership positions in the telecommunications and technology sectors, where he was involved in digital transformation, market expansion and large-scale consumer services.

“A leadership change at this level typically points to tighter execution, faster scaling, and potentially deeper partnerships as competition in the e-mobility space intensifies,” Techpoint Africa commented.” For governments in cities grappling with fuel costs and emissions, Spiro’s expansion could also accelerate the shift toward cleaner transport systems.”

Badjatya’s appointment comes as demand for electric two-wheelers continues to grow across Africa, driven by rising fuel costs, urbanisation and government efforts to support cleaner transport systems. Industry participants are increasingly investing in charging and battery-swapping infrastructure to address range concerns and improve the economics of electric mobility.

As reported by IntelliNews, Globally, two- and three-wheelers (2/3Ws) remained the most electrified road transport segment in 2025, with about 10% of the global fleet now electric, according to the Global EV Outlook 2026. Sales of electric 2/3Ws increased almost 15% to reach 11mn globally in 2025, representing around 15% of total 2/3W sales. Swapping systems for 2/3Ws are deployed in several African countries, including Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

“Sales of electric 2Ws have grown markedly in Africa, from less than 1 000 in 2020 to around 70 000 in 2025,”the report says. “The use of 2Ws for ride-hailing, delivery and other commercial applications – where purchase decisions are especially cost-sensitive – has helped drive up the sales of electric 2Ws, especially in countries such as Uganda and Kenya. Battery-swapping is also being deployed to support the uptake of electric 2Ws used for commercial services in some markets in Africa.”

Uganda has become one of Africa’s fastest-growing markets for electric 2Ws, with sales exceeding 30,000 in 2025, having risen sharply from a low base in 2024. “Key to growth was the rapid scale-up of financing programmes for 2W purchases, led by Kenya-headquartered Spiro, which reported a large rollout in 2025, supported by an expanding battery-swapping network,” the Global EV Outlook said.

Spiro assembles electric motorcycles in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda and also operates a battery recycling facility in Nigeria as part of efforts to localise parts of its supply chain. The company said it plans to expand further into markets including Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as demand for lower-cost urban transport solutions increases.

“The appointment of a new Group CEO looks less like a routine leadership change and more like a transition into a more disciplined execution phase. Spiro is no longer in early experimentation. It is now focused on scaling operations, where experience in mobility systems, financing, and cross-country expansion becomes critical,” Techpoint Africa writes.

“Bringing in Badjatya suggests the company is preparing for a more structured and potentially more aggressive push to cement its position as Africa’s leading electric motorcycle and battery-swapping platform.”