Kiira Motors Wins African Company of the Year Award

Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC), the Ugandan-grown electric carmaker, has won the African Company of the Year Award.

The 12-category awards are organized by the African Leadership Magazine, which is based in the United Kingdom.

"The keenly contested awards attracted over 300, 000 entries on the website and across social media platforms, as well as submissions via email and physical posts from Africans across the continent and in Diaspora," the magazine announced in a Monday statement.

"The Winners emerged through a keenly contested 3-step points-based selection process that included a call for nomination; a call for online voting for shortlisted nominees; and the editorial board’s final review of the nominations and voting submissions – using supporting evidence and voting considerations in their final decisions to decide the African Business Leadership Awards 2021 winners. The online voting was responsible for sixty-five percentage points and supporting evidence was responsible for 35% in the final selection process for the 2021 winners."

KMC is currently constructing a manufacturing plant in Jinja Industrial and Business Park and it is now 85% complete, with operationalization expected by December 31.

The plant is expected to produce and deliver the much-needed buses for the modernization of Uganda’s Mass Transit Systems.

Its construction commenced in February 2019.

The Corporation is currently utilizing the facilities and resources at NEC's facility in Nakasongola, where it is building two Kayoola electric-powered buses and one Kayoola Diesel Coach.

They are to be completed by October 2021.

The company is working with Tondeka Metro, RentCo Africa and Golden Dragon as the Technology Partner to produce 30,000 Buses at the factory being set up on 100 acres of land.

The buses will be sold regionally and 65% of parts and components are to be localized by 2030.

The factory will produce and deploy 1,030 buses by mid-2022, 50 of which will be electric.

The Mass Transit Bus System (MTBS) will operate in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area within the radius of 25-30km along gazette routes and is estimated to move approximately 600,000 people per day while adhering to the Ministry of Health guidelines on COVID-19 and 1,500,000 people per day on a business-as-usual scenario.

Payments for tickets will be made through an end-to-end cashless ticketing system integrated with Mobile Money (Airtel Money, MTN Mobile Money and Afrimoney), Visa, Mastercard and Union Pay.

The Mass Transit Bus System is expected to improve passenger boarding and alighting times and reduce overall waiting and travel times to between 30 minutes to one hour on each trip as compared to the current taxi system travel/waiting time of over 1.3 hours while also reducing annual expenditure off individual disposable incomes on transportation within GKMA by up to 80%.

There will be improved revenue collection for taxi operators at the first and last mile through the Tondeka Taxi Owners Feeder Road Scheme that will enable integration into the Tondeka Cashless Ticketing and Payment System for a seamless commuter experience.

Building the Indigenous Motor Vehicle Industry is projected to create over 100,000 jobs directly and indirectly in the medium term including but not limited to engineers, IT specialists, planners, welders, painters, designers, architects, lawyers, financial analysts, accountants, economists, logistics and supply chain practitioners, auditors, human resources personnel, sales executives, marketers, machine operators, drivers, stewards and cleaners.

Below is the list of winners as unveiled by the group: (LIST ALL WINNERS AND RUNNERS UP)

AFRICAN BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Segun Ogunsanya, CEO, Airtel Africa, Nigeria Winner
Simphiwe Tshabalala, CEO, Standard Bank Group, South Africa Runner up

AFRICAN FEMALE BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Patience Akyianu, Chief Executive Officer, Hollard Group in Ghana Winner
Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch, CEO, Aksal Group, Morocco Runner up

AFRICAN REGULATOR OF THE YEAR
Poppy Khoza, CEO of the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) Winner
Silver Mugisha, CEO  Uganda Water and Sewerage Corporation Runner Up
Brima Baluwa Koroma, Executive Chairman, Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Sierra Leone Runner up

BUSINESS FRIENDLY GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor, Lagos State, Nigeria Winner
Alan Winde, Premier, Western Cape Province, South Africa Runner up

CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR
Harvesh Kumar Seegolam, Governor, Bank of Mauritius Winner
Caroline Abel, Governor, Central Bank of Seychelles Runner up

AFRICA TRADE AND INVESTMENT MINISTER OF THE YEAR
Nevin Jameh, Minister of Industry, Trade and Small Industries, Egypt Winner
AmadouHott,  Minister for the Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Senegal Runner up

AFRICAN CEO OF THE YEAR
Benedict Peters, CEO, Aiteo Group, Nigeria Winner
Rebecca Mbithi, CEO, Family Bank, Kenya Runner up

YOUNG BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Kwadwo Safo June, CEO, Kantanka Group Ghana Winner
Uzair Essack, CEO, Riyp, South Africa Runner up

AFRICAN CSR & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IMPACT AWARD
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) Winner
Equatorial Guinea LNG Holdings Runner up

AFRICAN BRAND OF THE YEAR
Ethiopian Airlines – Winner
Eat’n’Go Africa – Runner up

AFRICAN COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Kiira Motors Corporation Uganda Winner
Vodafone Ghana Runner up

INDUSTRY PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Kwame Osei-Prempeh, Group CEO, Ghana Oil Company Limited Winner
Sabah M. Mashaly, Managing Director, Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), Egypt Runner up

AFRICAN LOCAL CONTENT ICON AWARD
Simbi Wabote, CEO, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board Winner

CENTRAL BANK OF THE YEAR
Bank of Ghana