Exporting Changan UNI vehicles to East & Southern Africa

What matters commercially in East & Southern Africa

The steering split is the whole story here, and it is worth being blunt about it. If you are importing into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda or Zambia, nothing in our published catalogue applies as written — those are right-hand-drive markets and every UNI built at Chongqing is left-hand drive. We will point you at the Rayong allocation rather than take a deposit against a car that will fail inspection at Mombasa.

Ethiopia is the strongest left-hand-drive opportunity in the region and the one where the UNI-T 2.0T earns its premium. Addis Ababa sits at roughly 2,350 m and most of the country that matters commercially is higher still; a 1.5T turbo loses noticeable output at that altitude while the 390 Nm 2.0T with the Aisin 8-speed torque-converter automatic barely notices. Ethiopian importers also run SKD assembly widely, and the UNI-T 1.5T is available as an SKD kit from a 100-unit annual commitment.

DR Congo and Angola take left-hand-drive stock without an altitude constraint, so the UNI-V 1.5T fastback sells there as a corporate and NGO sedan. Route DR Congo cargo through Matadi rather than Mombasa, and budget for container rather than Ro-Ro — pilferage on the open decks is a genuine cost line on this coast, not a theoretical risk.

Steering side

Mixed — Ethiopia, DR Congo and Angola are LHD; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are RHD

Homologation and conformity

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda require a Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) certificate issued before shipment; we book the inspection with SGS or Intertek at the Chongqing yard and the CoC travels with the documents. Ethiopia requires COMESA-compliant documentation and a pre-shipment inspection.

Authority: Kenya Bureau of Standards — PVoC programme. See the full document checklist for what else travels with the shipment.

Shipping and transit

Ro-Ro via Shanghai or Guangzhou to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam runs 28-38 days. Container (40HQ, 2-3 units) via Djibouti serves Ethiopia in about 30 days.

Can I import a Changan UNI-T into Kenya?

Not from China. Kenya requires right-hand drive and every UNI-T built at Chongqing is left-hand drive, so the only legitimate route is Changan Rayong allocation from Thailand. A converted left-hand-drive car fails the PVoC inspection and voids the factory warranty. Kenya also applies an eight-year age rule from first registration, which does not affect 0 km units but rules out the used stock frequently offered alongside.