NAMIBIA – E-BIKES4AFRICA, a budding Windhoek company, has launched electric bicycles that use solar batteries and could revolutionise the transport sector in the country.

The company is in partnership with the City of Windhoek – which is introducing cycle lanes in the city. Other partners are Namibia University of Science and Technology, Nedbank, Bicycle Empowerment Network Namibia, Physically Active Youth and Jakob Marengo School in Katutura.

According to the project manager, Ally Ndengu, the bicycles are designed in Namibia but made for Africa.

“We have a bike for every occasion – be it for delivery, for commuting, for use as a fast and silent patrol vehicle in conservancies and for rural communities,” she said.

She said e-bikes have a number of advantages in that users do not have to worry about the ever-escalating cost of fuel, the bikes are carbon emission-free, making them environmentally friendly in the face of global warming, and they can navigate any terrain.

Ndengu said the e-bike, whose battery takes about four hours to charge, has a range of 40 kilometres and can reach a maximum speed of 35km/h.

“As the bikes use electric power, the rider does very little pedaling and does not tire quickly, while its 250W motor and the li-ion (lithium-ion) battery support the rider,” she said.

The batteries are supplied to clients through a swooping system and solar also powers other services at e-hubs, allowing for 100% free energy consumption.

Ndengu said the bikes are for sale and they also have a renting option at competitive rates.

“We provide an efficient, cost-effective and eco-friendly delivery and logistics service to restaurants, chemists and any other business and private individuals, thereby helping clients to reduce costs,” she said.

Ndengu said they also offer test rides at their workshop and e-hubs found at several sites around the city.

Based on a franchise business model, the E-Bikes project by SunCycles Electrics Namibia, employs 18 Namibians, and focuses on creating eco-friendly alternatives for peri-urban commuting, short business trips, sight-seeing tours and inner-city logistics, Ndengu added.

The company, which has a workshop at the Bokamoso Entrepreneurial Centre in Katutura, Windhoek, opened a branch along Fidel Castro Street in the city centre recently.

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