There are bamboo bikes made in Ghana by Ghanaian company, Ghana Bamboo Bikes.
Ghana’s Government is also empowering young people through the Bamboo Bike initiative and they are exporting it to numerous countries.
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Bernice Dapaah – a young entrepreneur from Ghana decided to build an eco-friendly bikes to not only help the environment, but to improve the lives of those living in her community, according to ONE.
While studying for a degree in Business Administration, Bernice decided she wanted to take control of her future and build a business where she would be responsible for every element of the company. After graduating, Bernice’s journey to be her own boss took her back to her hometown of Kumasi, where the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative was born.
The initiative uses mainly natural resources – such as bamboo – to create a more sustainable mode of transport for people to be able to get to school or work.
According to SEED, “Ghana Bamboo Bikes aims at taking advantage of the abundant raw bamboo materials in Ghana to manufacture high quality bamboo bikes suitable for export markets and for the road conditions in Ghana and affordable to the poor. Ghana Bamboo Bikes design, develop and market multi-purpose bikes and related products and services using native bamboo. As the frames are light and stable, the bikes are suitable for rough terrain and for carrying large farm loads, passengers, water and even patients. Apart from Ghana, the initiative focuses on markets in the EU and USA to generate foreign exchange and created jobs along the value chain.”
Here are 3 reasons why we can get behind Bernice and her bikes:
1. They’re eco-friendly.
The Ghanaian company is able to take advantage of locally sourced resources by using bamboo to build the entire frame of the bike. Conscious that they would be consuming large amounts of local bamboo, Bernice plants 10 new bamboo plants for every 1 plant that is cut down! By building the bikes out of bamboo instead of steel or aluminium, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced making the bikes friendly for everyone, everywhere.
2. They’re helping children get to school.
School children receiving bamboo bikes! Photo credit: Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative.
A product of education, Bernice is using her eco-friendly bamboo bikes to enable children to go to school. Some children in the community walk long distances to get to school, meaning they are often late, reducing their time to learn. Bernice donates bikes to them so they are able to focus on their education and maximise their time in the classroom.
3. They’re empowering women.
Not only is she enabling children to make learning a priority, Bernice is responsible for boosting the community’s local economy by employing locals to harvest and plant bamboo, build the bikes, and sell them to markets around the world. Oh, and did we mention that Bernice also made sure women were hired to be a part of her team of 35 employees so ‘they can do something on their own, rather than being at home looking after their husband’?
Reducing pollution, providing students with a way to get to school on time, providing jobs — Bernice’s Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative is definitely a success story.
