Ally Masoud speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, April 7, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
DAR ES SALAAM, April 9 (Xinhua) -- On the afternoon of April 2, 2022, Tanzanians were treated to good news that sounded like music in their ears -- it was the day that their fellow citizen, 49-year-old cartoonist, radio producer and radio presenter unveiled his locally made electric car in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
It was the day that Ally Masoud, commonly known as Masoud Kipanya, realized his dream that spanned almost a decade.
"The future is electric," Masoud, a father of eight children, told Xinhua at the beginning of a recent interview in which he explained his new invention.
"I have been receiving a lot of phone calls from people since I unveiled my electric car, thanking me for showing how the impossible can be possible," said Masoud wearing a broad smile.
"From 2013 all around I have been thinking about why other people make all these cars, ships, boats, nice things in the world. How come we Africans do not produce the way other races are producing? We are more of consumers, we only take, and we only receive. We drive cars but they are made by other people," he said.
He said his journey to making the electric car began when he started thinking about those questions and he first designed a small truck which he resolved to make.
"So from 2013 I kept on changing and improving and fine-tuning the idea," said Masoud.
In 2017, he started to look for a place where he could build or hire for his project until in 2019 when the Dar es Salaam regional manager for Small Industries Development Organization, a state-run organization offered him a place at Vingunguti.
"In February 2020 when I was about to start my project, COVID-19 came in. So I had to postpone the commencement of the project. By July 18, 2020 I started the project that took us 21 months to complete," said the soft-spoken Masoud.
He said an important component for making an electric vehicle apart from the body of the car is the engine. Since Tanzania does not have this technology for making the engine, Masoud's company called Kaypee Motors bought it from outside the country for reasonable prices. The chassis and body were procured locally.
"It took us almost two years to make the prototype because a prototype is the first thing of the project...When you have something on paper it is quite different from making it real," he said.
He said Kaypee Motors has been receiving some orders from people, adding that his company is trying to solicit funds for machines to enable it to go for mass production.
"We are planning to buy machines for mass production from India or China. And once we are ready we are planning to release about 100 cars per month," he said.
He said his company is getting full support from the government through the Tanzania Investment Center and the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology.
Masoud believes that the future is electric. He said when one looks at developed countries, they are in the process of phasing out all fossil fuels cars by 2030 and 2035.
"So we have to join the race. We need to have champions in this endeavor, we need to have pioneers in doing it," he said,
Asked how he juggles his time from drawing cartoons, radio presenting, and now making an electric vehicle, Masoud said he goes for his first job as a radio presenter from 6 a.m. up to 9 a.m. and then he goes for his second job which is cartoon drawing and this takes time to think about the idea that takes one to two hours depending on the complexity of the drawing.
"And the third job is the car. It is possible. You can do six jobs a day," he said. ■
Residents view Ally Masoud's locally made electric car during an unveiling ceremony in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, April 2, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)