STORY: China's e-vehicle brand Neta enters Kenya's market
SHOOTING TIME: June 26, 2024
DATELINE: June 27, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:31
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the opening ceremony
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WANG AIPING, CEO of Moja EV Kenya
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JOY WANYONYI, Head of business development, Kenya's Associated Vehicle Assemblers
4. various of Neta electric vehicles

STORYLINE:

Chinese automotive brand Neta announced its entry into the Kenyan market Wednesday, with Moja EV Kenya, a motor dealer, as its distributor.

Zhou Jiang, the overseas business general manager at Neta, told journalists in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, that the firm will initially offer the Neta V model, which will retail for 4 million Kenyan shillings (about 31,000 U.S. dollars) and has a range of about 380 km on a full charge.
   
Neta chose to establish a presence in Kenya because it is a regional economic hub and will serve as a gateway for exporting e-vehicles to the rest of the African continent, Zhou added.
   
Wang Aiping, chief executive officer of Moja EV Kenya, said they will initially import about 160 vehicles from China over the next month and plan to partner with Kenya's Associated Vehicle Assemblers to assemble 250 e-vehicles every month. 

Wang also mentioned plans to begin exporting Chinese e-vehicles from Kenya to the rest of Africa by the end of the year.
   
He said that electric automobiles have advantages, relying on batteries for movement and lacking internal combustion engines, which reduces the need for regular mechanical maintenance.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WANG AIPING, CEO of Moja EV Kenya
"New energy vehicles are well-suited for Africa, where the climate and temperature are very suitable for the development of electric vehicles. In the African market, second-hand cars account for most of the proportion. So for new energy vehicles, in terms of their affordability, performance, science, and technology, there is an opportunity to obtain a very good development prospect in the African market."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JOY WANYONYI, Head of business development, Kenya's Associated Vehicle Assemblers
"So I am very excited and would like to applaud Neta and Moja EV for thinking of Kenya not only as a market to bring your units into, but as an opportunity to grow this industry. This is an opportunity for technology transfer, as you saw the technology they have back in China is way above what we have here in Kenya. So we are looking forward to a time when in Kenya we will be able to assemble these units and we will be able to have this technology locally available."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)