ARIA helps unlock BII investment in Ethiopian e-mobility business

British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution and impact investor, has committed $5 million in debt financing to e-mobility business, Dodai, as part of the company's $13 million Series A round. The investment will support the expansion of clean, affordable urban transport across Ethiopia, accelerating the country's transition away from fossil-fuelled mobility. 

Dodai assembles and deploys electric motorbikes and operates battery swapping infrastructure from its base in Addis Ababa. Since launching three years ago, the company has deployed more than 2,000 electric motorbikes and built a team of approximately 100 employees, the majority of whom are Ethiopian nationals. Its battery swapping model is designed to lower the cost barrier to electric vehicle adoption – users pay only for energy consumed, removing the need to own expensive battery packs outright. 

ARIA’s support 

The Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA) provided critical support to BII and Dodai throughout the investment process. Our team in Ethiopia carried out commercial due diligence, and provided macroeconomic and market context to help advance the deal. We also participated in the final investment committee (IC) meeting, offering market and sector-level insights to the IC members. This investment exemplifies the support ARIA teams can provide to investors and businesses.  

Impact 

The new capital will be used to scale e-mobility and battery swapping infrastructure across Addis Ababa. Over the next 12 months, Dodai aims to reach 3,000 battery swapping users supported by 30 stations across the city. Within three years, the company is building towards 30,000 users and 1,000 stations in Addis Ababa, before expanding further across the continent.  

Vivianne Infante, Coverage Director at British International Investment and Co-Lead for ARIA, said: “ARIA's support was invaluable in bringing this investment to close. Their on-the-ground knowledge of the Ethiopian market provided crucial insights in moving the deal forward. This is exactly the kind of collaboration ARIA was designed to enable and we look forward to building on it as we deepen our commitment to frontier markets across the continent." 

Surafel Kelemework, Country Manager for Ethiopia at ARIA, said: “We’re proud to have worked on this investment. This deal will have a significant impact in Ethiopia, supporting the transition away from fossil fuels and creating quality jobs locally. We look forward to seeing how this partnership develops in future.”