There must be millions upon millions of bicycles in Mumbai. The delivery man on bicycle. The electrician on bicycle. The schoolboy on bicycle. It is a fast, cheap, and efficient mode of transportation in a congested metropolis such as this one. Even better, bicycles are well-suited to the often potholed Indian roads. And, we hear that African roads can even be worse!
With this in mind, Zambikes is working to increase access to bikes in Zambia, while creating jobs and providing training in local communities. Zambikes not only supplies new bikes to communities, but also has spawned a local industry by training workers to fabricate parts locally, assemble bikes, and provide maintenance. To facilitate purchases, Zambikes even partners with local micro-finance organizations, which provide loans to purchase a bike. And, all of Zambikes profits are reinvested back into community projects through partner non-profit organizations.
But what is the absolute coolest about what they are doing are the following: the Zambulance and Zamcart and the manufacturing of bamboo bikes. The Zambulance is designed to carry sick people to hospitals in places where other means of transportation aren’t adequate or always available. Patients no longer need to be ferried to health centers on ox carts or wheelbarrows — now they must just attach the Zambulance to any bicycle or push manually. 
The Zamcart caters to the farming community, marketeers, and small businesses. It attaches easily to any bicycle and can support a load of up to 250 kg.
And as for bamboo bikes, after working out a deal with a California-based bicycle maker who developed a bamboo bicycle frame, Zambikes is now starting to grow and make bamboo bicycle frames in Africa and export them to America. Bamboo, as it turns out, is strong and light, a great substitute for metal. As a bonus, it has excellent vibration-dampening properties, making it comfortable for riding over long distances. Even better yet, the popularity and growing demand for bamboo bikes in the US is providing much needed job security and job growth for those involved in their creation. A win-win situation.
Maybe we’ll even see Lance Armstrong riding a Zambike soon!
Check out two awesome videos on Zambikes here and here
* Photos Courtesy of BBC News and Zambikes
Daily Brief: African Entrepreneurs, Zambikes, and GAO on AGOA - Marco Puccia : Business and Development Said,
September 9, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
[...] Bicycles For All Occasions (via Beyond Profit) – I posted an article a while back on the Bambulance, here’s a similar article by Beyond Profit magazine featuring a company called Zambikes which is working in Zambia. What I like about this article is that it features the “business model” approach that I was looking for in Bambulance. “Zambikes not only supplies new bikes to communities, but also has spawned a local industry by training workers to fabricate parts locally, assemble bikes, and provide maintenance.” [...]