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Sudan’s electric rickshaws cut costs, help environment
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Test drive: Workers test a new electric tuk-tuk assembled at al-Shehab factory on April 19. (AFP/Ashraf Shazly)
As fuel price is soaring, Sudan sees the rise of electric rickshaws that are both cheaper and cleaner for the environment.
Sudanese entrepreneur Mohamed Samir watches proudly as workers assemble garishly colored rickshaws, unique in the North African nation because they run on electricity, in a bid to tackle soaring costs.
In Sudan, three-wheeler vehicles - tuk-tuk rickshaws for passengers, and motorbike tricycles with a trailer attached for carrying goods - have long been a popular and affordable transport. Tens of thousands ply the streets of the capital Khartoum alone.
But with Sudan gripped by a dire economic crisis made worse by political unrest following a military coup last October, the cost of running petrol-oil engines has soared.
"People who use the fuel-run rickshaws are in pain, and they know the value of what we are offering," 44-year-old engineer Samir said at the factory in North Khartoum.
"We want to offer solutions."
There is a critical environmental impact too.
