Formula Student Africa launches to pull the future of e-mobility forward

If you’re around Cape Town Stadium on 25 February, the distinctive hum you’ll hear is the sound of mobility changing for the better. What better backdrop than Sub-Saharan Africa’s first ever Formula E race – the ABB FIA Formula E Cape Town E-Prix – for Formula Student Africa to launch. 

Supported by South African higher education partners, the University of Warwick and Warwick Racing in the United Kingdom, E-Movement, and Paramount Global as its official launch media partner, Formula Student Africa (FSA) is launching on 25 February at the Cape Town E-Fest ELECTRIC with the mission to become the leading advocate for electric mobility on the continent. 

Formula Student Africa aims to educate audiences on e-mobility and related skills development opportunities, upskill graduates and mechanics, and create a pipeline of engineering, commerce and technology talent to accelerate e-mobility and related sustainability industries in Africa. 

This will be achieved through developing programmes, activations, events and edutainment content with partners and brands who understand that Africa is a rich source of ambitious ingenuity. 

Thanks to companies like Tesla, mass awareness and consideration of electric vehicles have grown significantly around the world over the past few years – and behaviours are changing as more people continue to accept alternative modes of electric and smart mobility. 

In many countries, inner-city trips with shared bicycles and e-scooters alone have risen 60 percent year-on-year, and the total number of electric buses in the world is expected to increase 188% from 651,819 in 2021 to about 1,9 million in 2030. 

Electrification of transport is one of the most talked about catalysts to set the world on a net-zero carbon trajectory. E-mobility is good for the planet, and good for people and countries – reducing congestion and air pollution in cities, providing savings in fuel, energy and maintenance costs, and improving overall public safety and health.  

When factored in and monetised, these provide significant benefits for growth and prosperity. Globally the e-mobility industry has attracted more than $400 billion in investments over the last decade – with about $100 billion of that coming since the beginning of 2020. 

“While the rest of the world takes steps towards a zero-emission transportation sector and leveraging e-mobility to create opportunities and jobs, we know that Africa is capable of doing far more and doing it faster,” says Alex McLeod, founder of Formula Student Africa. 

“Mobility is a fundamental lifeline that connects people to jobs, education and critical services. E-mobility creates even more opportunities around these.” 

Formula Student Africa will help create jobs in computing, manufacturing, installation, maintenance, racing, solar, supply chains, mining, and the legal industry in terms of regulation and policymaking. FSA will also provide many possibilities for start-ups and entrepreneurs. 

“The e-mobility transition in Africa is no longer a question of ‘if’, but ‘how’ and ‘when’ – and everyone’s invited,” adds McLeod.

Visit the Formula Student Africa stand at Cape Town’s E-Fest ELECTRIC on 25 February. For more information, including sponsorship and partnership opportunities and activities, please email info@formulastudent.africa or visit www.formulastudent.africa.