Basi-Go

BasiGo is an e-mobility company that brings electric buses to sub-Saharan Africa's public transport sector, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with a second operating base in Kigali, Rwanda, and a registered corporate address in Claymont, Delaware, United States. Its offering combines three elements: electric buses sourced from vehicle OEMs and specified for African transport conditions, a technology-enabled leasing product called Pay-As-You-Drive that removes the upfront cost premium of an electric bus, and a charging and maintenance network for operators.

Under Pay-As-You-Drive, a bus owner buys an electric bus at an upfront cost comparable to a diesel bus and leases the battery through a daily, mileage-based subscription; the company states operators can earn four times the monthly income of a diesel bus purchase. In Kenya, buses are assembled on a dedicated E-Bus assembly line at Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers. Alongside the core bus business, BasiGo runs a passenger-facing booking app, Jani, which allows commuters to reserve seats on electric buses and pay by M-Pesa, Equitel or Airtel Money and track buses in real time, and an operator app that provides fleet, fare-collection and route performance dashboards. The company has also launched inter-city electric buses in Rwanda and a pilot of electric vans on inter-city routes in Kenya.

Founding story

Founded in 2021 by Jit Bhattacharya and Jonathan Green. The founders cite the roughly 20,000 diesel buses that carry 40% of passenger trips in Nairobi and the visible clearing of Nairobi's air when buses stopped running early in the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with Kenya's grid being over 90% renewable, which makes electrifying a single Nairobi bus avoid more than 50 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Business model

BasiGo sells or places electric buses with public service vehicle owners and operators and earns recurring revenue from a battery lease charged on a daily, mileage-based subscription basis, together with charging and maintenance services. It has described a reservation pipeline in terms of potential lease revenue and has developed an "AssetCo" structure intended to let renewable energy project capital invest into the sector. Its charging network is also open to the public, allowing passenger EVs to charge at its depots during the day.

Recurring Pay-As-You-Drive subscription fees for battery leasing based on daily mileage, plus bus supply and charging and maintenance services; the charging network additionally serves third-party passenger EVs.

Traction

As reported on its website, 114 buses in operation, about 7.05 million electric kilometres driven, 9.68 million passengers carried, 3,198 tonnes of CO2 avoided and 1,437,591 litres of diesel avoided. In a mid-2025 founder interview the company reported 64 buses in operation across Kenya and Rwanda with 60 more in the production pipeline, 862 reservation deposits representing over $250 million in potential lease revenue, 4.4 million kilometres driven, over 8 million passengers carried, over 2,000 tonnes of CO2 mitigated, and seven charging depots. The operator app has recorded 100+ downloads on Google Play. The stated objective is 1,000 electric buses within three years, requiring roughly $100 million in additional capital.

Latest developments

In July 2026 BasiGo announced a partnership with Rubis Energy Kenya to expand EV charging infrastructure across Kenya, and a British International Investment report examined the impact of catalytic capital in scaling e-buses in Kenya and Rwanda. In August 2026 the company and NCBA announced a partnership to finance 1,000 electric vans for Kenya's PSV market. The operator app added a real-time collection progress bar in an August 2026 update. Company communications also reference Rwanda's plan to ban diesel buses by 2026.