Kenya eliminates import duty on battery-powered vehicles

Kenya, of all places, is looking to get in on the plug-in vehicle action by eliminating import duties on battery-powered vehicles. With Somalia to its east, Ethiopia to its north, Uganda to its west and Tanzania to it south – and bordered by the Indian Ocean to the southeast and situated near the equator – Kenya might not be the first nation that comes to mind when you think of plug-in vehicles, but finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta feels confident that the African country is ready to dump the pump and pick up the plug. Kenyatta announced that:

We need to encourage usage of environmentally-friendly vehicles to reduce carbon emission and noise pollution. In this regard battery operated vehicles will be duty exempt.

In Kenya, duty usually accounts for a significant portion of a vehicles destination costs, with actual rates determined by depreciation. With battery-powered vehicles now exempt from import duties, the question is whether there's a market for electric autos in Kenya, the world's forty-seventh largest country.

[Source: Business Daily Africa | Image: eguidetravel – C.C. License 2.0]