Osakwe Chukwunonso is Building An African Manufactured Hybrid Vehicle
As the world moves rapidly to electric and autonomous vehicles and renewable energy, developing clean energy like solar and wind energy is widely seen as a way to ensure sustainable development while protecting the environment. However there remains a huge gap in Africa in the preparation to fully embrace clean energy with a lot of dependency on foreign produced vehicles.
Passionate about clean energy, environmental protection and in line with the philosophy of Africapitalism, Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur Osakwe Chukwunonso, in the year 2000 established his first company with an objective to provide individuals and organisations with an alternative source of electricity that was environmentally friendly and could help them save money spent of fuel. Over the past 17 years, he has grown to provide solar energy solutions to numerous satisfied customers before advancing to manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles.
In 2015, Osakwe took his passion a step further by setting up another company – Quadcycle Nigeria focused on the manufacture hybrid and electric vehicles which will help reduce greenhouse gases from fossil fuel powered vehicles. Quadcycle started with an initial target to manufacture hybrid alternative vehicles that will compete with and eventually eliminate the need to import rickshaws (KEKE) into Nigeria.
With a mission outset to prove that his dream can be achieved irrespective of the challenges we face in Nigeria and a hope to be the catalyst that will enable other companies and industries spring forth to create a true Made in Nigeria Industrialization. Osakwe and his team started against all odds “When we started, a lot of people thought we were crazy. We didn’t have a factory, tools, and equipment to begin with. But we still went ahead against all odds. Before the TEF programme, I thought I had everything figured out. Half way through, it became clear that I still had a lot to learn about running a successful business. This helped me research further, redesign the business plan, and better position the company for external funding. Thanks to The Tony Elumelu Foundation, now we have a factory, tools and equipment. We are also in the process of building 10 road test vehicles which we intend to run for 6 months before we start mass production. We are estimating a monthly production capacity of 200 units and expect an annual turnover of $ 12 million. We have also gotten recognition from SMEDAN, Ministry of Trade and Investment, and have receive an award for The Most Innovative Start-up for 2017This would not have been possible without the knowledge acquired from the TEF programme”
Quadcycle is on a major rise, producing for commercial sale hybrid vehicles manufactured in Africa and this has not been without challenges especially with regards to funding and been able to meet the requirements needed to obtain a license but Osakwe and his team are determined to apply what he learnt from the training he received undergoing the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme and principles of the TOEWay.
Osakwe and his team can be reached via mail on quadcyclenigeria@gmail.com or call: +2348091060450 and onsite at his factory in Masaka, Nasarawa State.
