WEBVTT - Why Chinese Car Makers Are Looking To Africa 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:10.440 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. I'm Jennifer's Abasaja and 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:13.960 this is the Next Africa podcast, bringing you one story 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.840 each week from the continent driving the future of global 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:23.880 growth with the context only Bloomberg can provide. So I'm 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:27.160 in the back of an electric taxi. This is actually 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.320 my first time in one, something that's starting to become 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.519 a bit more common site across the continent, which has 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:38.080 actually been helped by a combination of rising fuel prices 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:42.720 and cheaper imports that has sort of led to the 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.960 ev market growing in parts of the continent and also 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:50.120 Chinese car companies making most of the inroads in some 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.240 of the countries that we're seeing. 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.160 This is a very important market because we feel this continent, 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.920 especially also South South Africa, need be wide the attackler 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:04.280 to bring the solution, to bring also innovation here. Then 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:06.039 they need a company like us. 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.920 So that was Stella Lee, executive vice chairman of BID, 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:14.120 speaking with me in Johannesburg last year. And one of 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:18.360 the countries where BID is making inroads is also an Ethiopia. 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:23.160 Six percent of cars on the road are now electric vehicles. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.319 That is up from one percent in twenty twenty four 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:30.119 when the government actually introduced an import ban on gas 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:33.399 powered cars, and today a new BID car could be 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:37.959 cheaper in some sense than a secondhand gasoline car used 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:39.480 to cost while a. 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:45.200 Mild bid No. I drive a BID electric vehicle. It's 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.600 been about seven or eight months since I made the 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:51.200 switch from a gas powered car, and there's a significant difference. 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.600 In the past, I often face challenges refueling my car, 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.360 dealing with long lines at gas stations and sometimes even 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.560 being unable to fill up a first seven. 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.080 Now, I'll hope you so. In today's Next Africa podcast, 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:10.040 we're asking will this ev growth continue at pace in Africa? 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.640 Where is it happening? And will Chinese firms be the 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:20.880 sole ones to actually benefit? Joining me today is Bloomberg's 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:24.720 Ethiopia based reporter, that is Fausika Todase, And later in 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.079 the show we'll hear from our Asia transport reporter, Linda 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:31.720 Lu based in Beijing. But Fasika, let's just start with you. 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:36.280 I haven't myself gotten to addis Ababa. Fortunately we have you, though, 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.280 on the ground to do some of this reporting for us, 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.960 and you've been actually reporting on the rising popularity of 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:47.120 electric vehicles which we don't always equate to the continent 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.959 in particular, How noticeable has this growth been? What made 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.560 you want to dig into this a bit more? 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:57.640 If you asked me this a few years buck, like 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:00.440 three four years buck, I would say it's not that much, 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.200 not subble. But over the past three years you can't 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.360 observe the number of evs on the roads are growing. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.480 And also you see normally we see long lines at 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.880 gus and fuel stations, but now we see long lines 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:17.120 electric vehicles charging their battery at public charging stations in 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.959 the parking lots, so you will notice the growing number 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.880 of evs in it. It is also in some major 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.720 parts of the FORSABA. That's one of the reasons that 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:28.359 triggered us to work on the EV's story. 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:31.160 That we did well. And I don't think most people 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:34.680 or people might be surprised to find out how this 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.520 rise of evs really came about. Can you talk about that? 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:40.760 I mean, how did this all come about? From the 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:41.760 government perspective. 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.120 We'll talk about the government ban on the import of 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.680 I see twenty twenty four. But before that, people were 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.600 very challenged in fuel, especially spending hours and hours on 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.960 long QUEUS stations to fill their tongue. And also even 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.440 after waiting for hours and hours, they might be told 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:01.520 by the gust that they're out of gus. So that 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:04.480 was the major challenge that was pushing the people to 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.440 switch to the evs. But in twenty twenty four, the 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.160 government has put a complete pun on the IC mainly 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.600 attributing to the physical pressure that it was put on 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:18.760 the government, especially subsidizing fuel. So government is putting a 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.360 huge amount of money in subsidizing fuel. Data is said 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.480 because it's one of the priority communities they want to 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:30.000 subsidize just to control the infornationary pressure on the people 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:33.640 on the economy. So the government started phasing out the 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:38.719 subsidy it was putting on fuel imports and fuel retail prices, 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.159 and at the same time they banned the import of 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:43.960 fuel car. So that was one of the reasons to 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.800 alleviate the government has on a physical pressure on the 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:50.080 economy and the budget as well. 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:52.480 Can you give us some of the numbers though, in 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.600 terms of how were they subsidizing some of these vehicles 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.920 and how did that then lead to more people want 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:01.400 to buy evs. 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:04.040 So, as I said, there's a complete pun on the 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.839 fuel car since twenty twenty four. But at the same time, 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:10.720 the government has put a minimum tax on the evs. Previously, 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.680 if the importants, we're paying up to such percent tax 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.880 duty on IC or fuel cars, but on ivis they 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:22.120 are only putting five percent tax, which makes it encouraging 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:24.400 for people to important buy ivis. 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.159 Have you been able to look at the costs because 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.280 we always talk we talk about electric vehicles, they are 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.440 a bit more expensive, but some of the debate around 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.440 buying them is because you save on fuel. When you 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:38.640 talk about a minimum tax, what does that look like 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:41.880 for an electric vehicle on Ethiopia, what's the cost we're 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:42.360 looking at. 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.600 We can't compare the price because currently we don't have 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.599 new fuel cars in the market because of the bun 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.640 But you look at the price. So recently there is 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:57.880 a significant price on the EVE prices following the war 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:00.880 in Iran because the dealers are saying that they're not 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.680 getting more new supply, so they increase the price of 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:07.320 ivs they have on hand. So I would say over 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:11.040 the past two months the price has gone significantly up 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:15.920 to five thousand dollars increase on the mid size IV 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.320 So I would say the price of IV's for a 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.880 mid sized TV. It costs around five million November or 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:23.520 thirty one thousand dollars. 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.479 It's quite expensive. And what types of cars are you 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.479 seeing that people buying? And I wonder if we're seeing 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.240 a dominant car maker when when you drive around outis Ababa, 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:35.680 I'm assuming you're driving. 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:36.359 Yes, I do so. 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:36.760 Yeah. 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:41.360 Most of the cars the evs are Chinese brunds dominantly 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:45.599 bid cars in different models from the small the small 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.320 car to the to the four wheel drive. You see 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:52.200 bid model cars on the roads, especially for personal use. 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:55.599 When it comes to the taxi meta taxi service, the 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.440 most dominant brand is another Chinese brand, which is called 0:06:58.680 --> 0:06:59.839 Chunk and Win win Istar. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.320 Well, it's interesting physic because I've spoken with byd Stella 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:05.920 Lee before and the company is making quite a big 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.680 push into Africa. We're going to get into that later 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.560 in the episode. When you talk to people and drivers, 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:14.480 because you've done quite a bit of reporting about this 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.000 on the ground, what is it that the drivers have 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:20.640 been telling you about their own personal reasons for switching 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.680 outside of what the government sort of forced them to 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:24.200 have to do. 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.240 The first thing, the major one is the shortage of 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.480 fuel in the country, so they were spending hours and 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.800 hours on gas station to fill their tongues. So that 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:36.120 was and also there were cases that they might not 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:38.320 be able to get gussed, so that was the MEAs 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:42.000 the major reism that pushed people to switch to ivis. 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:44.880 The second one is most of the drivers I spoke 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.800 to is that the evis are more comfortable and the 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:52.280 latest runs so which they prefer to switch to the evs. 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.400 So these are the major reasons people are telling me 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.560 why they switch to IVIS on top of the government 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:01.160 decision to bun fuel cars from getting into the country. 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.200 And stick with me. When we come back, we'll hear 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:08.520 more about Ethiopia's EV growth and also head over to 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.920 China to check in on why the carmakers there are 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:16.160 looking towards African consumers for some of their growth. We'll 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:23.720 be right back. Welcome back today. On the podcast, we're 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:28.520 discussing EV's Physica. Todesa is still with me physica. I 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.040 want to talk about some of the risks here. This 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:34.600 is still quite a new market in Ethiopia. Does this 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.040 look based on your own reporting, that this is going 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:40.760 to really change the car industry in Ethiopia? Or are 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.880 we just looking at really a small sub section of 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.920 the market that is maybe adopting some of these electric vehicles. 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.240 So since it's a new technology, there are not much 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:55.720 much technicians who are more hands on on EV maintenance 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.880 and also spare parts, so since it's new, we don't 0:08:59.880 --> 0:09:03.120 know that many spare part suppliers that are bringing and 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.120 if spare parts, that's also the risk people see. And 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:11.800 also most drivers are telling me that about battery regradation, 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:14.440 so we don't know how much it's going to last. 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:18.960 And people have yes, they saved money from fuel expenses, 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.120 but also they don't know how much they would be 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.640 spending if they need to change their battery, so that's 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.360 also the reservation people have on on evs. In terms 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.360 of the market, I would say it's the market that's 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:33.240 growing because the penetration is growing over the past two years. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.240 So if penetration is about six percent out of the 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:40.560 total cars in Ethiopia, the number of assemblers is increasing. 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:45.280 Until now the government has licensed seventeen IV assemblers in Ethopia, 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:49.839 mainly Chinese assemblers and also local companies that are assembling 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:54.160 Chinese brand evis. And also we're seeing the charging network 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:57.319 is expanding across at this end, also the major cities 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.720 of the country. So I would say it's getting bigger 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:01.160 years after years. 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:02.880 Yeah, yeah, I was going to say that because the 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.920 charging is such a big factor of this. Is Ethiopia 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:09.240 equipped to have these charging stations there, so. 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.240 Most of the drivers are charging their car at their 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:16.120 house using household charger, which is the quality level to charger. 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:18.080 But at the same time, the city is working on 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:22.319 aggressively working on expanding the public charging stations, especially fast 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.920 and ultra fast charging stations built by private companies and 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:29.920 also state owned companies like the state telecom companies building 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.880 charging stations across the city so that they built three 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.240 and also the government has has Medita mandatory for the 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.880 car dealers to have at least one or two charging 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.040 ports inside their dealership. So I would say the charging 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.080 network is also expanding, but not that much comparable with 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:47.560 the number of elist that are seen in the in 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:49.200 the country or driven in the country. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.000 Is the electricity there though, I think is what I'm 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:52.880 trying to figure out. 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.560 Yes, So, you know, recently to integrated the largest Africa's 0:10:56.640 --> 0:11:00.319 largest dumb, the Great stopend Renaissance dumb, and also there 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:04.280 are hydro dumps across the country, so relatively the electric 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:09.800 electricity price is relatively cheaper for households, so yes. 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.640 And physic maybe maybe just finally, because I think this 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.720 was a really fascinating part of your piece is what 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:19.400 does this mean for a lot of the other workers 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:24.920 or drivers really who rely on internal combustion engines for 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.199 their work, right, and you get into the gig economy, right, 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:32.360 and how much that relies on some motor vehicles. I mean, 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:36.240 what's the other side of this that maybe we'll be 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.000 talking about in a few years time. Is this going 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:43.920 to phase out some sub section of the economy that 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.280 has been has been a driver for Ethiopia. 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.840 Yes, Jen, So recently the government has announced a new 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:55.040 law that requires the fuel car drivers to change their 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:59.880 motors into gus or electric to electric motors. And also 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.640 we're seeing most of the public transports providers switching to 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.440 EV's like the buses and the mini buses, and also 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.760 the delivery services are now switching to electric motorbikes from 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:12.160 the fuel motorbikes. 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:14.959 Are you in the market for a new car, Fasika, It's. 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.800 Been two years now since I I started driving evs, 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:19.720 So no yeah. 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.160 Okay, so you're already on the EV train. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.240 Yeah, because I was spending like two three days on 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.920 the line at gas station, so it was not convenient 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.760 for me to go out for reporting with fuel Carso 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:33.320 I'm driving EV since twenty twenty four. 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.080 Well, let's get the view from China. Now joining me 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:40.600 from Beijing is Linda lu Our Asia Transport reporter. Linda, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.120 thank you so much for being here. So let's just 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.239 take a look at the global picture for electric vehicles. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.440 Bloomberg has been reporting about how we have been seeing 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.720 sales actually growing in a number of markets since the 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:58.120 Middle East conflict really ignited a few weeks ago. How 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.000 much of that, though, is coming from Chinese automakers. Give 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.120 us a lay of the land if you can so. 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:09.760 For Chinese automakers, most of their sales are still within 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:14.520 the home markets, but obviously the exports and overseas sales 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:18.600 are growing very fast. These Chinese evs cover a big 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.400 range of price points. A lot of them are very 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:25.320 affordable compared to the ones you would find from say 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:30.079 Tesla or Volkswagen or BMW. So the Chinese evs are 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:34.560 definitely attracting a lot of consumer interest for their affordability, 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.920 and they also have a lot of technology features in 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.319 the car that consumers might find them very attractive. 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.280 When you say affordable, what do you mean? Because we 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.359 were speaking with Fasika today, say a reporter and Ethiopia, 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.320 and she gave us a sense of how much it's 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:52.360 costing there for consumers. What are you talking about when 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:53.199 you say affordable. 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:58.480 Yes, so, looking at a market like Ethiopia, some of 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.800 these models, for example, the Sea Goal compact hatchback from 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:09.199 Chinese carmaker BYD goes for say around twenty three thousand 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:14.280 US dollars. Now, compare that to a Tesla, which you 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:18.320 know costs from thirty thousand US dollars if not more. 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:23.000 That's actually a very affordable option for consumers locally, even 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.920 if say not many of the lower social economic consumers 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.240 can afford them. But you know, looking at the middle 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:34.560 class or more wealthier consumer segments, the Sea Goal from BYD, 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:39.920 you know, is one that is probably more accessible to 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:41.920 the consumers there than say a Tesla. 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.440 Yeah, and perhaps, as we talked about with Fasika, the 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:50.120 cost savings analysis seems to level out when some of 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:52.640 these consumers think about how much they're spending on fuel. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.600 When we think about the African consumer, Linda, and the 0:14:56.600 --> 0:15:02.880 African markets in particular, how important are they or Chinese automakers. 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:08.960 So right now, Africa as a region for the Chinese automakers, 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.920 especially looking at the EV segment, it's still quite small. 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.520 I'm just looking at the figures for the first quarter 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:22.200 this year, China exported that just over thirteen thousand evs 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:27.040 to Africa. That's actually quite small compared to say Europe 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.560 or Asia, where you know they receive something like more 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:34.280 than two hundred thousand evs in the first quarter. But 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.840 just looking in terms of growth, Africa is actually one 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:43.239 of the fastest growing region in terms of the changes 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.760 in EV shipments. Africa's growth in the first quarter so 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:52.520 far is at eighty seven percent. That's probably just the 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:57.480 second fastest growing region for Chinese EV exports, behind Latin 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.760 America and the Caribbean. So even though it's a very 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.520 small market right now, but the potential is very big. 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.440 Which would make sense why we're seeing them double down 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:12.280 to a certain extent, at least n BYD's case. So, Linda, 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:16.720 we talk about Ethiopia in this episode, but where else, 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:21.760 based on your reporting, are you seeing Chinese carmakers targeting 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:25.400 and potentially looking to make inroads across the continent. 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:29.720 So in Africa, I would say the traditional auto hub's 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:34.280 natural markets are for these Chinese carmakers, so places like 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:38.520 South Africa, Morocco or even Egypt where they have strong 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:42.640 manufacturing bases. I've seen a lot of interest from Chinese 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:47.920 car makers. For example Cherry, which is China's largest car exporter, 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:53.040 they are actually in the process of taking over a 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:57.280 car factory that was formerly owned by Nissan. So it 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.280 just shows them building up the supply chain and the 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.880 local region. And if it's a country that already has 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.800 essentially foundation for making costs, then that's a very easy 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.159 choice for the Chinese carmakers. 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.600 And our thanks to Linda lu and Fiska Tadese for 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.119 joining us this week. You can read our reporting on 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:22.560 ev growth across Bloomberg platforms. Now here's some of the 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.399 other stories we've been following across the region this week. 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:30.080 Cobald Medals, the exploration company backed by billionaires including Bill 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:33.960 Gates and Sam Altman, officially broke ground on what will 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.080 be Zambia's biggest comper mind as the global hunt for 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:41.280 critical minerals heats up. The Mingomba mine will cost more 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.399 than two point three billion dollars to build, making it 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.840 one of the biggest ever investment projects in the southern 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:52.960 African nation, and France urged its citizens to leave Molly 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.879 Quote as soon as possible, as a separatist group vowed 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.320 to expand its campaign to ouse the nation's military junta 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:05.480 and Islamist militant's renewed threat to blockade the capitol. You 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:09.200 can follow these stories across Bloomberg platforms, including the Next 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:11.680 African Newsletter. Will put a link to that in the 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:16.720 show notes. This program was produced by Adrian Bradley and 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:19.720 Tiva Adebayo. Don't forget to follow and review the show 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:23.240 wherever you usually get your podcasts. But for now, I'm 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.800 Jennifer's Abasaja. Thanks as always for listening.