India's Shakti Green Energy and Tanzania's UTEGI Technical Enterprises have formed a joint venture to build Tanzania's first electric vehicle assembly plant, with a projected investment of USD 7 million.

The new entity, Plug and Ride (EA) Company Limited, will operate a facility in Dar es Salaam assembling Complete Knocked Down (CKD) Bajaj vehicle parts and electric three-wheeled motorcycles. The foreign partner holds 60% equity while the local partner retains 40%, and operations are expected to begin within six months.

Otieno Igogo, UTEGI Chairman, attributed the initiative to "President Samia Suluhu Hassan's visit to India last year, during which Tanzanian firms sought potential business partners." Tanzania Investment Centre Executive Director Gilead Teri described the venture as the country's inaugural EV manufacturing operation.

The deal reflects a broader pattern of India-Tanzania commercial ties strengthening through joint ventures. During Hassan's India visit, the Tanzania Investment Centre signed cooperation agreements with India's Institute of Investment and Jawaharlal Nehru Ports Authority to facilitate industrial parks for Indian firms in Tanzania. Joint investments accounted for 61% of all Tanzania-registered projects from September to December of the previous year.

For Tanzania's transport sector, the arrival of locally assembled electric three-wheelers addresses two policy objectives simultaneously: reducing fossil fuel dependence and building domestic manufacturing capacity. Three-wheelers are a common mode of commercial transport in Tanzanian cities, and an electric alternative produced locally could lower operating costs for drivers while reducing urban emissions. The venture also positions Tanzania ahead of most East African neighbours in EV assembly, a segment still largely dominated by imports across the region.