Lesotho Takes the Wheel: MaZero Project Paves the Way for Low-Carbon Urban Mobility

07.05.2025

MaZero Project Team with local Stakeholders in Lesotho

MaZero Project Partners at the BBCDC. In the center of the picture: Mr. Ivan Yaholnitsky, who founded the training center over 20 years ago and continues to lead it with great dedication to this day. BBCDC permanently hosts more than 150 young people on its campus, offering them training in solar energy as well as six additional hands-on vocational fields.

During the week of April 29 to May 2, the three project partners met on site to align their initial progress and planned joint activities. The Energy Research Centre (ERC) at the National University of Lesotho has already prepared the tender documents for the electric car and six e-scooters to be procured as part of the project. The NGO Technologies for Economic Development (TED) organized an information and exchange event attended by around 40 representatives of local and national stakeholders. Valuable input was gathered for the nationwide rollout of e-mobility.

Mantopi Lebofa, head of the local project partner TED, moderated the event and ensured a fruitful exchange with representatives of national stakeholder groups with great commitment.
Ms. Lebofa also serves as the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Lesotho – making her ideally connected for the TED-led work package “National MaZero Network for RE-based E-Mobility & Climate Protection.”

The project team also visited the Bethel Business Community Development Centre (BBCDC), an educational institution that offers practical training and services in the field of solar energy and has been closely cooperating with ERC for many years. From the side of the project coordinator, the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt – Institute of New Energy Systems (THI-InES), project leader Prof. Matthias Huber and Stefan Schneider participated in the on-site meeting.

The project MaZero – "Electromobility for Reducing GHG Emissions in Urban Transportation" is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI). It started in November 2024 and will run until October 2027. The core objective of the project is to pilot and scientifically monitor the shift toward electricity-based urban mobility by implementing two charging points powered exclusively by renewable energy and procuring various electric vehicles. In the long term, the project aims to establish a national network for low-carbon mobility in Lesotho.

More on MaZero: Project Fact Sheet

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