Photo: Stefan Wagner/medium.com
The bamboo bike helps reduce carbon emissions by up to 70 percent to be compared to a traditional bike.
23 Januari 2016 09:30
Brilio.net/en -
Talking about innovative small industries, meet Bernice Dapaah from Ghana. She is a Business Administration graduate but instead of working abroad with her degree, she decided to create her own business under the name Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative and employs youth from both genders in her hometown, Kumasi.
The idea came when she was still in college. She was looking for something to do after school that can be made from raw materials around her. She knew that bamboo bike was there in the 80s, so she took the idea and implemented it in her neighborhood. There are many bamboo plants around and it is the perfect material to be used because it is sustainable, durable, cheap and recyclableand have the perfect size for the bicycle frame.
With selling price at USD 120, it may be USD 40 higher than the average metal frame bikes but the real savings come with the reduction in greenhouse gases. The bamboo bike helps reduce carbon emissions by up to 70 percent to be compared to a traditional bike. And for every bamboo plant they use, the team plants ten more to make sure they give back to the nature.
But from the sales Dapaah also gives back to her neighborhood by donating many bikes to local communities and help many students and youth to go far, as Dapaah remembered how hard it was for her to go to school back then. Dapaah has trained 35 young peoplesome are disabledto help them financially because it is hard to find job in the area. She is planning to open two more workshops in the Brong-Ahafo Region and hopes to employ 50 more young people in Ghana.
Bernice Dapaah at her companys workshop in Kumasi, Ghana. Photo: Stefan Wagner
For her idea and effort, Dapaah is granted with high demand for her bikes, which does not come only from Ghana but also from all over the world, especially from Europe, USA and Israel. She has also received an international recognition for changing the face of transport in Ghana and became an ambassador for World Bamboo Organization. Who wouldve thought a simple idea could create such an eco-friendly lifestyle and business?
Video: AJ+
(Reported by Victoria Tunggono)
