Yadea and Spiro partner to scale electric two-wheelers across Africa

Yadea will supply electric two-wheelers to Spiro's seven-country battery-swapping network as Spiro deploys its $270m funding round.

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A modular battery swap station displaying illuminated fully charged batteries and active charging ports stands next to a row of white electric scooters on an urban street in bright daylight.

Spiro, Africa's largest electric mobility company, has signed a strategic partnership with Yadea, the Chinese manufacturer that claims the top spot in global electric two-wheeler sales. Under the agreement, Yadea will supply electric motorcycles and related vehicles tailored to Spiro's African markets, while the two companies will co-develop customised two-wheeler platforms designed for local road conditions and commercial use.

The deal follows Spiro's most recently disclosed funding round of $270 million, which included participation from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese fund. That capital is being deployed to deepen Spiro's battery-swapping network, which the company says now spans more than 2,500 stations across seven African countries, with over 130,000 electric motorcycles and 50 million battery swaps completed to date. Yadea, founded in 2001, reports more than 100 million vehicles sold across 100 countries, supported by ten production facilities and over 2,000 registered patents in electric vehicle technology.

The deal

The partnership centres on three areas: vehicle supply, infrastructure integration, and joint product development. Spiro will incorporate Yadea's vehicles into its battery-swapping ecosystem, which lets riders exchange a depleted battery for a fully charged unit in minutes rather than waiting for an onboard charge. The two companies will also co-engineer two-wheeler platforms built specifically for African commercial utility, including delivery services, logistics operators and daily commuters. Financial terms of the supply arrangement, including volumes, pricing and any exclusivity provisions, were not disclosed.

Anant Badjatya, chief executive of Spiro, said the partnership helps the company "meet demand at scale" by combining Yadea's manufacturing strength with Spiro's operational experience across the continent. Wang Jiazhong, senior vice president of Yadea Technology Group, described Africa as "a massive frontier for zero-emission transport".

Market context

Electric two-wheelers are among the fastest-scaling clean-transport categories in emerging markets. The economics are compelling: battery-swapping sidesteps the upfront battery cost that makes outright purchase unaffordable for many commercial riders, shifting the model toward energy-as-a-service. Spiro is not the only operator in this space. Ampere Mobility, Roam, and BasiGo are among the companies building electric vehicle fleets and charging or swapping infrastructure across East Africa, while Gogoro has pioneered a battery-swapping model in Taiwan and is expanding into other emerging markets. The partnership between a Chinese OEM and an Africa-focused mobility operator is a structural trend: Chinese two-wheeler manufacturers are competing for position in markets where internal combustion motorcycles remain the dominant form of commercial transport.

From a capital perspective, the $270 million round Spiro has already closed is a large ticket for African climate-tech. The sector has historically attracted smaller venture rounds, with infrastructure-scale capital still concentrated in East and West African off-grid solar and mini-grid developers. A nine-figure mobility raise signals growing investor appetite for the battery-swapping and EV fleet model at the infrastructure layer.

Policy context

Africa lacks a unified EV policy framework, but several of Spiro's seven operating countries have introduced import-duty exemptions or national electrification strategies that improve the economics of EV adoption. Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, where Spiro operates assembly facilities, have each taken steps to reduce import duties on electric vehicles or components. The absence of continent-wide regulation remains a headwind for manufacturers seeking to standardise platforms across borders, which makes co-development of locally adapted vehicles, as this partnership promises, a commercially rational response.

The partnership's next visible milestone will be the first jointly developed two-wheeler platform reaching production and Spiro disclosing which markets it will enter as part of its next expansion phase.

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