Roam: Electrifying Africa’s mobility

“We’re giving the opportunity for people to do a lot of technical work, that generally doesnt happen too often in Kenya”If you’ve been to East Africa you may be familiar with “boda bodas.” If not, they’re small taxi bikes, commonly used by couriers or to transport people. There are 1.2 million of them in Kenya alone, that’s a lot of combustion engines on the roads, and removing them is the problem that Roam Electric are helping to solveRoam was founded in 2017. They started out making electric safari vehicles (no surprise being located right on the edge of the national park) but they now aim to create an electric future for Africa by producing easy-to-use, affordable electric vehicles. As well as developing innovative electric buses as the country’s newest and greenest mass transit solution, they also build an electric motorcycle called the Roam Air, primarily targeted at boda boda riders.In this episode we head to Nairobi to visit Roam’s HQ to meet Masa Kituyi and Dennis Wakaba who show us round the shop floor, take a spin on a Roam Air and hear how the technology and design behind these motorcycles is the future of mobility in Africa.The other fascinating aspect of this story is the positive impact that the company is having locally. The workforce is 39% female and they’re a success story in talent development in Kenya.We also hear from Jon Hirschtick at PTC, who tells us about how the Onshape software helps the whole team at Roam collaborate seamlessly in the design process and management of the whole manufacturing journey.Find out more about Roam here Find out more about OnShape hereYour host is Paul Haimes from industrial software company PTC. Episodes are released bi-weekly. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates.Third Angle is an 18Sixty production for PTC. Executive producer is Jacqui Cook. Sound design and editing by Clarissa Maycock. Location recording by Helen Lennard. And music by Rowan Bishop.