Our vision

Affordable green mobility in Africa – for all!

AfricroozE GmbH’s vision is to establish e-bike mobility, affordable for the majority of Africans, while at the same time creating jobs, saving CO2, building local expertise and helping to achieve several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The work takes place from our home base in Hamburg in cooperation with our local partners in Africa.

Fighting poverty and hunger

In the commercial sector, the e-bike creates jobs and income, for example by enabling the sale of home-produced goods on the nearest market, or using it as a bicycle taxi. In doing so, the e-bike promotes economic growth and user independence.

 

Gender equality and women’s empowerment

The positive effects can be multiplied by sharing an e-bike among several private households, women’s groups or farmers. Women in particular benefit from this, as they carry out a large part of the transport tasks for their families.

 

Sustainable mobility and climate protection

Powered by solar technology, the e-bike is a zero-emission vehicle and therefore a source of sustainable mobility on the African continent with its growing economy and population.

 

Health and access to clean water

As an ambulance, the e-bike helps save lives – especially of expectant mothers and their children, as 2 out of 3 births in Africa occur without medical assistance. It also means that even remote villages can more easily manage the sometimes long distances needed to access clean water.

 

Fighting poverty and hunger

In the commercial sector, the e-bike creates jobs and income, for example by enabling the sale of home-produced goods on the nearest market, or using it as a bicycle taxi. In doing so, the e-bike promotes economic growth and user independence.

Sustainable mobility and climate protection

Powered by solar technology, the e-bike is a zero-emission vehicle and therefore a source of sustainable mobility on the African continent with its growing economy and population.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment

The positive effects can be multiplied by sharing an e-bike among several private households, women’s groups or farmers. Women in particular benefit from this, as they carry out a large part of the transport tasks for their families.

Health and access to clean water

As an ambulance, the e-bike helps save lives – especially of expectant mothers and their children, as 2 out of 3 births in Africa occur without medical assistance. It also means that even remote villages can more easily manage the sometimes long distances needed to access clean water.

Our vision

Our vision is to establish affordable and sustainable e-bike mobility for the majority on the African continent. This will improve living conditions, create jobs and income, reduce poverty, and enable the development of expertise. It will also protect the climate as the e-bike has no CO2 emissions.

 

Our AfricroozE bikes will normally be financed by the users with the granting of microcredit facilities. In order to reach the poorer parts of the population, we will work with our non-profit partner EURIST : the donations collected through EURIST enable us to provide an e-bike to even the poorest communities and people.


Our Core Team

Bernhard Walther

Bernhard Walther

Co-CEO

Rumbi Nadine Ebbefeld

Rumbi Nadine Ebbefeld

Co-CEO

Dr. Jürgen Perschon

Dr. Jürgen Perschon

Founder and Consultant

Thomas Seliger

Thomas Seliger

CFO

Anka Obergfell

Anka Obergfell

Head of Operations

Katesi Najjiba

Katesi Najjiba

Direktor von AfricroozE Uganda Limited

THE ADVISORY BOARD

ULRIKE SAADE

ULRIKE SAADE

Founder Velokonzept GmbH

HANNES NEUPERT

HANNES NEUPERT

ExtraEnergy.org

DR. AXEL FRIEDRICH

DR. AXEL FRIEDRICH

International Transport Professional

STEFAN BÄRENZ

STEFAN BÄRENZ

Business Advisor

ROB KLEINBAUM

ROB KLEINBAUM

CEO MDE Washington

JAKOB HORNBACH

JAKOB HORNBACH

CEO GOGO Uganda

The Story so Far

more than 500 e-bikes in 8 African Countries

We currently have more than 500 e-bikes in use in 8 African countries. Our AfricroozEs operate in Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Namibia, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

KfW final report delivers important conclusions

A project financed by the KfW, the German Bank for Reconstruction, has been completed and evaluated. Based on the results, we can adapt our bike more closely to user requirements in the future.

Founding of AfricroozE GmbH

In April 2023, EURIST e.V. sets up a commercial subsidiary and the “African e-bike” project became AfricroozE GmbH. This creates a hybrid social enterprise which can operate throughout the entire value chain thanks to its non-profit and profit-oriented elements, giving us a turbo accelerator. As the main shareholder, EURIST e.V. remains significantly involved in the continuing development and management of Africrooze GmbH.

Roll-out of the AfricroozEs in Jinja

FABIO, EURIST and external supporters celebrate the first usage of the AfricroozE’s. The use of the first 100 e-bikes was made possible with the financial support of the KfW.

Support from the KfW

We are successful with our “KfW public-private partnership” application, which allows us to significantly accelerate the pilot phase of the “African e-bike”.

Bjarne Mädel takes the role of ambassador for the AfricroozE e-bike

In 2019, Bjarne visited the pilot project in Uganda and was impressed by the AfricroozE e-bike. Since then he has been an ambassador for the “African e-bike project”.

Cooperation with HERO CYCLES and HNF-Nicolai

We were able to get HERO CYCLES (one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world) and HNF-Nicolai (a bicycle designer in Berlin) enthused about our ideas. Together with our long-standing partner FABIO, the first prototype of the African e-bike was created. It is named “AfricroozE”.

 

Start of the African e-bike pilot project

The first 3 prototypes were brought into operation in Jinja (Uganda) after a 2-year pilot phase.

Foundation of EURIST e.V.

EURIST (the European Institute for Sustainable Transport), the successor to ITDP, is a non-governmental organisation that advocates for policies to improve the environmental, social and economic sustainability of transport and mobility around the world. As a competence centre for sustainable transport, EURIST shares best practices with cities, local and regional authorities. EURIST offers project support, capacity building, lectures and seminars on many aspects of passenger and freight transport.

Jürgen Perschon cycles 2,500 kilometres through East Africa

As part of his geography studies, Jürgen cycles through the countries of East Africa. On his tour he studies the relationships between living conditions, development opportunities and personal mobility.

A special thanks to our partners!

Contact / Imprint

AfricroozE GmbH

+49 (0) 40-53 27 87 40

hello@africrooze.com

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