5th March 2024
AfricroozE at the KfW
At the beginning of March, Rumbi Ebbefeld and Jürgen Perschon had the great opportunity to present our AfricroozE project at the KfW Themendom. They not only showed the e-bike itself, but also talked about the specific challenges and conditions of mobility in Africa. The moderated presentation was not only listened to by KfW employees on site, it was also made available to a wider audience via livestream. Many thanks to our partner KfW for this great opportunity and the exciting day.
22nd – 23rd June 2023
Hey/Hamburg 2023
Again in 2023, we were represented at the Hamburg Mobility Festival “Hey/Hamburg”, which
allows us to exchange our ideas around future mobility concepts. This year, Anka Obergfell gave an introduction to our AfricroozE GmbH and shared latest updates on our AfricroozE e-bikes and our experiences of the past year.
Picture by Macus Krüger: Anka, Mia and Ruth with our AfricroozE at “Hey/Hamburg 2023”.
15th June 2023
AfricroozE at KfW’s 75-year jubilee celebrations
With the support of KfW, we were able to fund 100 e-bikes in recent years, deploy them on the roads of Uganda and additionally evaluate the data It was KfW’s 75th birthday today – during the celebrations, we were able to present our AfricroozE along with the results of the pilot project. A great success!
April 2023
Foundation of AfricroozE GmbH
In April 2023, EURIST e.V. takes a major step by forming the private limited company AfricroozE GmbH from its previous African e-bike project. This gives us a newly established hybrid social enterprise. With EURIST’s non-profit approach and, at the same time, AfricroozE GmbH’s profit oriented focus, we can contribute to the whole value-added chain and receive a “turbo boost”. As the majority shareholder of AfricroozE GmbH, EURIST remains significantly involved in its advancement and management.
9th September 2022
AfricroozE honoured with the Future Price
of Friedrich Ebert Foundation
On 9th September, the African E-Bike project was honoured with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Engagement Award! The FES alumni association awarded its prize for the 16th time. This year, the key topics were a peaceful and just world order along with the averting of the global climate disaster. The Engagement Award particularly promotes new social ideas. Anka Obergfell and Rebecca Lohmann, who is engaged voluntarily in African e-Bike, accepted the award during the official ceremony in Berlin.
. Thank you to everyone who voted for African e-bike!
Besides the great prize money, the network and knowledge of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation will also be of great value to African e-bike. Over the next year, there will be various events and workshops that will expand our expertise and inspiration to further develop our project!
Here is more information about the Engagement Award and the four award winners of 2022:
1st – 6th September 2022
Shift Mobility
During SHIFT MOBILITY, Rumbi Ebbefeld and Jürgen Perschon took to the main stage and gave some live insights into our project. Furthermore, we presented our AfricroozE in the exhibition hall where we got in touch with mobility experts from all over the world. SHIFT MOBILITY is a global platform – a festival of ideas and experience beyond traditional trade fairs explaining how future mobility concepts will change and shape the way we think, live and move.
Summer 2022
The solar hub supplies power!
With the delivery of the first 100 bicycles in March, the solar hub also went into operation. The solar panels installed on the roof of the FABIO Service Centre can simultaneously charge approx. 10-15 batteries; each battery takes about 3-4 hours to charge. A sufficient number of spare batteries ensures that every minute of sunshine is used for charging – without any restrictions on the use of the e-bikes! The solar-generated power is also used for other activities, such as welding or drilling.
8th July 2022
AfricroozE used as bicycle taxi
This 5-minute video footage by Deutsche Welle TV shows the AfricroozE in use for passenger transportation in Jinja, Uganda. The video covers the bike’s journey from conception to the development and production up to final use as a taxi.
You can find the full report on the webpage of Deutsche Welle.
16. 16th – 17th June 2022
Hey / Hamburg
“HEY/HAMBURG” is is a platform made for ideas, innovation and inspiration and gives insight to the future mobility. Lectures and exhibitions were held during the month of June at the chamber of commerce in Hamburg. During the supporting programme, Rumbi Ebbefeld presented the AfricroozE and explained the project to the audience.
Picture: Rumbi with our e-bike in the exhibition hall at the “HEY/HAMBURG”.
22nd May 2022
Bicycle Fair Velo Hamburg
Our stand at the Heiligengeistfeld (with the bunker in the background): Christian and Philipp talking about the African e-bike with a visitor.
30th April 2022
TV report from Uganda about the use as bicycle taxi
Bicycle taxi drivers and passengers share their experiences with the AfricroozE and compare it with other taxis in times of skyrocketing petrol prices (in English and partly in the local language).
11th March 2022
Report from the handover of the first 100 African e-bikes
The symbolic roll-out of the first 100 “Africroozes” took place on 11th March 2022 with the participation of Uganda’s Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga, Jinja’s Mayor Peter Kasolo, Germany’s Ambassador Matthias Schauer, former Transport Minister Kurt Bodewig and numerous other representatives from politics and business. The event was covered by numerous local and regional media. A total of 250 guests experienced an eventful morning in the mayor’s garden in the centre of Jinja, which ended with a first ride on the new e-bikes.
Read the full report here.
KfW has also published a report on this in its Stories section:
The AfricroozE project financed by KfW subsidiary DEG contributes to the expansion of green mobility in Africa. | KfW Stories
11th March 2022
Ceremony to hand over to the bikes to the users on 11th March
After the e-bikes have been released by the customs and final assembly is in full swing, the handover will take place at a ceremony on 11th March. In addition to representatives of FABIO and EURIST, the Mayor of Jinja, the German Ambassador to Uganda and the former Federal Minister of Transport, Prof. Kurt Bodewig, will take part in the ceremony.
2nd March 2022
100 Africroozes arrived in Uganda
Finally, the first 100 African e-bikes arrived in Uganda and were released by the customs. 10 technicians from FABIO started with the final assembly immediately, so the e-bikes will be ready for handover to the users on 11th March!
27th January 2022
The first 100 African e-bikes will be handed over shortly.
The African e-bikes have left the factory and are now on their way to Jinja in Uganda. The recipients of the 100 bikes have already been selected by FABIO on-site and are currently being trained on the prototype, so that they can use the bike immediately after the handover, which will take place on 10th March. In addition to high-ranking representatives from Uganda, the German Ambassador to Uganda Matthias Schauer and former Federal Minister of Transport Prof Kurt Bodewig will be present.
28th October 2021
Guest at Villa102
On the occasion of COP26 and as a conclusion of ZEIT for Climate, the first ZEIT Talk “Guest at Villa102” took place. The event was entitled “Future technologies in mobility as part of the solution?” Amongst others, Dr Jürgen Perschon discussed with Dr Rainer Esser (Managing Director, DIE ZEIT), Stefan Wintels (Co-Chairman of the Board, KfW Bankengruppe), Ola Källenius (Chairman of the Board, Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG) and Albrecht
The recording of the conversation can be accessed via linkedIn:
Further information:
25th October 2021
KfW Stories
The credit institute for reconstruction (KfW) has just launched a campaign featuring our project. In addition to an interview with Bjarne Mädel and Dr Jürgen Perschon, the photos taken on Hamburg’s Binnenalster are published there. Details at:
14th October 2021
African e-bike project presentation at the ITS
On the public day, the fair was not only open for the professional audience but also for all interested people., We presented our project to a broad audience in a 30-minute talk on the main stage moderated by Yared Dibaba. Besides Rumbi Ebbefeld and Dr. Jürgen Perschon, Katesi Najjiba and Patrick Kayemba from FABIO in Hamburg were also live on stage.
11th – 15th October 2021
International Transport Solutions Fair
At the ITS (International Transport Solutions) trade fair in the Hamburg exhibition halls, we were given the opportunity to present our e-bike for the whole week. We had many exciting conversations at our small stand and made good contacts.
27th August 2021
Report in “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (German newspaper)
8th August 2021
Report in “Welt am Sonntag” (German newspaper) :
Click here to read more (in German only).
7th August 2021
Robert Habeck on a test ride
Our African e-bike team met Robert Habeck in Hamburg and shared information on the project. After a 30-minute talk he tried the e-bike and went on a test ride through the Hafencity. His conclusion: “a cool and tangible project”!
7th August 2021
Presentation of African e-bikes at Hammerbrooklyn Factory Hamburg
Our press conference led to a big response in media – there were lots of reports and announcements on German TV (RTL Nord, SAT1 regional) as well as in printed press and their online portals (e.g. Süddeutsche Online, Welt am Sonntag, Hamburger Abendblatt, Bergedorfer Zeitung, Rheinzeitung, evangelischer Pressedienst and many more). Special thanks to Hammerbrooklyn Factory for letting us use their extraordinary location for this special moment.
30th July 2021
Welcome, African e-bike!
The preproduction model with the serial number 000001 just arrived in Hamburg. Here it will be thoroughly tested before being sent toJinja, Uganda, in September for use in the training of mechanics and users. Despite some supply bottlenecks on the production site and other issues resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the delivery of the first 100 African e-bikes is still scheduled for October.
20th May 2021
Interview with Bjarne Mädel
30th July 2021
Visiting the German embassy in Uganda
Following our visit to the German ambassador in Uganda, he supported and promoted our project on Twitter.
25th April 2021
To collect donations, we have added two projects to the “betterplace” platform.
However, these will only be displayed under “search results” when they have received at least 5 donations and 250,- €. Currently they can only be found via the links below. Please help us to break the critical threshold as soon as possible.
Betterplace E-Waterbike
Betterplace E-Ambulance
We also continued working on our homepage, which is now also available in English and French language. In addition, the news section, more documents for download, some questions and answers, etc. were added.
Anka, who is doing a 1-year internship after her studies, travelled to Uganda – as described above – at the end of March to support the African e-bike project on-site. To get familiar with the details, she spent 4 weeks training on the project in advance at our office in Hamburg.
24th April 2021
Workshop FABIO and EURIST
At the beginning of April, FABIO and EURIST were able to discuss all essential steps and responsibilities before the roll-out of the first 100 e-bikes in a multi-day workshop with 30 participants in Jinja. Due to delivery bottlenecks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the roll-out will not take place until late September/early October. During the project presentation to the German ambassador in Uganda, we were able to gain the support of the embassy, which posted the project on social media. Ambassador Matthias Schuer intends to be present at the roll-out in Jinja. In addition, the company Bodawerk (Kampala, www.bodawerk.com) will be one of our new partners and will cooperate with us in battery recycling in the future. Finally, the two Weltwärts volunteers Anka and Lars have started their work in Jinja with high motivation and are supporting both the preparations on-site as well as communications between FABIO and EURIST.
3rd February 2021
Uniform branding
All African e-bikes are given a uniform branding. Aiming for a very high level of public recognition, the name and the design were developed by our partners in Uganda.
17th January 2021
Bjarne Mädel on TV
Bjarne Mädel presents the project during an interview for a German TV show.
Contact / Imprint
AfricroozE GmbH
+49 (0) 40-53 27 87 40
hello@africrooze.com
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