Ethiopia has unveiled a locally-assembled electric car from Marathon Motor, a joint venture between Korean auto giant, Hyundai and Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie.
Once fully charged, the electric car can go for 300 kilometres and the plant has the capacity to produce 10,000 cars a year.
Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, took delivery of the vehicle on Monday.
“As we transform Ethiopia’s greening and climate-resilient aspirations into concrete actions through the Green Legacy initiative and Sheger and Entoto Parks, this morning I received the first electric car fully assembled in Ethiopia. No emission cars can help reduce pollution,” the PM said in a tweet.
Last year, Ethiopians planted three billion trees as part of the greening and climate resilience initiative championed by the Prime Minister, with an additional four billion trees planted this year.
-theeastafrican