Mandla Lamba: A Driving Force in Africa’s Green Mobility Revolution

Dr. Mandla Lamba, a young South African entrepreneur, is among Africa’s digital innovators driving the continent’s technological evolution.

Motivated by a vision of economic liberation for Africans, he emphasizes leveraging innovation and creativity over dependence on natural resources and government contracts.

As the CEO of Agilitee Africa, the continent’s pioneer in electric vehicle manufacturing, Dr. Lamba envisions a “green revolution” addressing job losses, rising fuel costs, and power disruptions.

His journey, marked by challenges and triumphs, led to Agilitee’s establishment in 2015 and formalization in 2018, focusing on green technology solutions and pioneering Africa’s electric vehicle and drone industries.

Dr. Lamba says poverty, lack, and pain led him into entrepreneurship, and “yet the purpose of God for my life led me to the green revolution.”

“Seeing our people suffer from losing jobs, hiking petrol prices, salary cuts and power outages are ills that the continent has been suffering from and these have delayed the civilisation of African people and I know I was to fix this particularly,” said Lamba.

Agilitee’s initiatives encompass electric vehicle technology, battery swapping, solar charging stations, and Africa’s first delivery drone, Maria.

Dr. Lamba’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs echoes his journey: pursue passions authentically, for the world seeks originality, not replicas.

Agilitee the first electric vehicle manufacturer in Africa, it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agilitee Ltd a global player in the Electric Vehicles and Green Technology space.

“We aim to change the continent to driving clean energy solutions and carbon reduction. The Agilitee team is pioneering, researching, importing, assembling, manufacturing, and franchising electric vehicles technology.”

The Electric Vehicle solutions include battery swapping stations and solar charging facilities, across Africa.

It also recently manufactured Africa’s first delivery drone called Maria. The drone is expected to be released in the market in September 2024.

Dr. Lamba contends that “except for some small racial barriers in South Africa, I believe Africa as a continent is the best place to be alive in today.”

His counsel to young African dreamers is to “chase your dream that is inspired by the things you are passionate about, and not leave your passions and pursue what you saw others do.”

He explains that this is “because you will end up being a second-rate version of someone else and God created you to be the first rated version of yourself. The world is not looking for another version of someone else as it already has that, it is looking for you and the real you will do what you good at even with a little effort.”