Bicycle recycle
At the company Baisikeli, you can hire a second-hand bicycle – a bicycle with a story to tell. A story about how the bicycle will be given a new lease of life in Africa when it has served its purpose in Denmark.
Every year, around 400,000 bicycles are scrapped in Denmark. Many of them are of such good quality that, with a little loving care, they could be used again.
In Africa, the bicycle is a cheap and efficient means of transport of both goods and people in local areas. Bicycles in many African countries are imported from India and are of very poor quality. Quality bikes are not easy to come by, and are in high demand due to their considerable use-value.
The company Baisikeli hires out new and used bicycles in Denmark. The bikes are later sent to Africa, where they are sold from authorised Baisikeli workshops in Tanzania and Sierra Leone. In 2008, Baisikeli sent 1,000 used bicycles to Africa.
A story that sells
The business model is divided into two inseparable parts: Baisikeli operates a bicycle hire business in Denmark to generate a fast turnover for the company and thus minimise the need for loans. At the same time, Baisikeli uses the profit generated by the bicycle hire business in Denmark to finance the company’s activities in Africa.
Baisikeli is competing on the African market for used high-quality bicycles. The income from the sale of bicycles in Africa is used solely to further develop Baisikeli’s African operations.
Baisikeli’s focus on social issues has helped the company to obtain access to cheap bicycles from a number of insurance companies who all sympathise with the business idea. In 2008, the majority of Baisikeli’s turnover came from the hire of used bicycles to tourists.
Fairtrade bicycles
Baisikeli’s long-term plan is to start up its own production of bicycles in Africa. The bicycles will be sold as Fairtrade bicycles on the European market.
At the end of 2008, a new product was launched, aimed at Danish companies: a company can hire custom-built bicycles, adorned with the company’s logo and colours as part of a 36-month rental agreement. Baisikeli’s new rental concept is expected to account for 80 per cent of the company’s total turnover within the next three years.
The two founders of the company came up with the idea for Baisikeli in 2003. Originally they wanted to sell used Danish bicycles in Africa (Baisikeli means bicycle in Swahili, which is spoken in Tanzania, among other places). The company’s turnover in 2008 was EUR 54,000 and it has five employees. In 2009, the company’s turnover is expected to reach EUR 470,000.
The case was updated in January 2010
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