The bicycle hub – creating social bicycle enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa

Velafrica has been exporting bicycles since 1993. At the beginning, we shipped 1-2 containers to loose networks of small local bicycle trader. From 2015, we developed the “social bicycle hub model” with local bike-pioneers to growth and develop the bicycle market in northern Tanzania. A bicycle hub has four strategic pillars: Entrepreneurship, Vocational Training, Mobility Initiatives and Bicycle Advocacy. We present the development of an idea to one of the biggest bicycle centers in East Africa distribution more than 7’000 bicycles annually. The example shows the potential of creating jobs, vocational training and access to bicycle mobility through a social entrepreneurial approach.