I think this is referring to new car sales - vehicles in the third world tend to stay on the road a very long time, 30 to 40 years by my reckoning. It would take a long time for EVs to displace ICEVs by sheer numbers.
One would think that the e-bike is what would really revolutionize transportation in the third world, especially a place like Ethiopia that doesn't really see snow.
> There are around 100,000 EVs in Ethiopia so far. [1]
> The Ministry of Transport data indicates approximately two million vehicles in Ethiopia [2]
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/17/climate/ethiopia-evs-gas-car-...
[2] https://ethionegari.com/2024/01/29/ethiopia-to-ban-entry-of-...