The Ghana Cycling Federation has received a donation of bicycles from the Village Bicycle Project (VBP), in Accra-headquartered in Sowutuom, in a handover described by officials as the beginning of a broader effort to equip the country’s cyclists with competition-standard equipment.
The bicycles arrived in Ghana through a long-running supply partnership with Recycle Bikes to Africa, a United Kingdom-based charity that has shipped bicycles into the country for two decades.
Speaking on the motivation behind the donation, Ebenezer Somia, Country Director of the Village Bicycle Project, said the organisation identified a gap in the equipment available to Ghanaian cyclists and moved to close it through its network of international partners.
We support cyclists, we support school children, and we’ve partnered with Ghana Cycling Federation because they realised they don’t have the requisite quality bicycles that they need to run their programmes,” Somia said.
He added that the organisation approached its partners abroad to source good-quality bicycles so that Ghanaian federations “can also have good quality bikes to compete with international partners.”
Somia said the federation’s newly equipped riders are expected to perform well in upcoming competitions and, in doing so, inspire the next generation of Ghanaian cyclists to pursue the sport more seriously.
This is just the beginning. We are starting with just three bicycles.” Ebenezer Somia, Country Director, Village Bicycle Project
Although modest in scale, the initial handover comprised three bicycles, Somia framed the donation as a pilot for a considerably larger programme.
He said the Village Bicycle Project intends to deepen its partnership with the Ghana Cycling Federation to extend bicycle distribution beyond competitive cycling, including to the Ghana Police Service’s cycling team, an army cyclist unit, and community-level riders.
Village Bicycle Project.
Headquartered in Accra, Ghana, with a base at Sowutuom
Operates a branch in Sierra Leone
Backed by European and United States partners
More than a decade of operations in Ghana, distributing bicycles to schools, health workers and farmers
Currently seeking support from Ghana’s Ministry of Transport to expand its reach
A Twenty-Year Supply Chain
The bicycles distributed by the Village Bicycle Project trace back to Recycle Bikes to Africa, a UK charity whose partnership with VBP began twenty years ago. Charlotte Ward, Executive Director of Recycle Bikes to Africa, said the relationship has grown steadily since then, with more than 100 shipping containers of bicycles sent from the UK to the Village Bicycle Project over that period equivalent to over 50,000 bicycles delivered into Ghana.
Ward said her organisation’s core aim is to widen access to cycling as both a competitive pursuit and an everyday mode of transport. “We really hope this donation will inspire the younger generation to get into cycling,” she said, describing the donation as “a huge step in cycling for Ghana.”
She added that the broader goal is to give more Ghanaians access to a low-cost, sustainable means of getting to work, school and market.
Recycle Bikes to Africa is really about transforming lives through bicycle reuse.” Charlotte Ward, Executive Director, Recycle Bikes to Africa
Impact on the Ground
Ward credited the Village Bicycle Project’s community-facing programmes including school outreach and “learn to ride” initiatives with extending the practical benefit of the donated bicycles well beyond competitive cycling.
She said the organisation’s work in Accra, the Northern Region and the Volta Region has shortened school journeys for children who previously walked long distances, allowing pupils to arrive at school less fatigued and better able to concentrate, while also freeing up time for household responsibilities after school.
Recycle Bikes to Africa
UK-registered charity supporting bicycle reuse across Africa
Twenty-year partnership with the Village Bicycle Project
Over 100 shipping containers more than 50,000 bicycles sent to Ghana
Focus areas: school transport, healthier lifestyles, low-cost mobility
A Pathway for Young Cyclists
Asked what advice she would offer young Ghanaians hoping to take up cycling professionally, Ward pointed to the Village Bicycle Project as a starting point for aspiring riders to gain access to a bicycle and build experience on it.
She commended the Ghana Cycling Federation’s efforts to promote the sport and widen access, adding that greater participation carries benefits that extend beyond competition. “It will help also if people can get professional through cycling, which is also very possible,” she said, noting the motivational effect such progress can have on riders’ families and communities.