BAISIKELI PARTNERS

We cannot achieve our goals alone and partners are just as important as motivated employees. There are many challenges concerning doing business in Sierra Leone and Tanzania. Here, experience is a prerequisite to deal with the issues that present themselves every day. We have to combine our strengths to achieve our goals. Baisikeli is working with strong organizations in which saving lives is part of every day.

If you would like to involve your organization in Baisikeli, we greet you welcome. Send us something about your thoughts and ideas and we will arrange a meeting.

DANISH INSURANCE COMPANIES

Codan, DIBA, GF Forsikring, Alka og Thisted Forsikring

These insurance companies count most of Baisikelis fleet of used bicycles and are therefore directly a part of creating a better life for many people in the African countries that Baisikeli operates in.

 In Denmark, the insurance companies gain legal ownerships of a stolen bike, when they have paid the robbed person his compensation. If the police discover the stolen bikes, they will then end up at the insurance companies in some cases. We are very grateful for these collaborations and the contributions the give and we hope to expand the list and create more use of the many thousands of bikes out there, that would otherwise be abandoned or scrapped.

Nicolai Kampmann, communications manager in Alka, explains:

"Baisikelis grundtanke er, at hjælpe fattige afrikanere til et mere indholdsrigt liv, konkret gennem adgangen til billige cykler.
Denne måde at arbejde med erhverv og erhvervsudvikling, der hvor behovet er - i Afrika – er positivt, fordi det dybest set handler om at give den enkelte borger flere muligheder i dagligdagen.
Alka vil gerne lave konkrete samarbejdsaftaler med organisationer og virksomheder, der har det til fælles, at de hjælper marginaliserede grupper. Mennesker, der af den ene eller anden årsag lever ”på kanten” af det sorgløse hverdagsliv.
Udover evnen til at drive en troværdig forsikringsvirksomhed skal Alka også måles på et konkret overskud til at hjælpe – særligt socialt udsatte.
Alkas samarbejde med Baisikeli må gerne inspirere både medarbejdere og kunder til at engagere sig og tage aktivt stilling til mennesker, der kan bruge et positivt skub fremad.
De organisationer Alka samarbejder med skal have en tillidsvækkende og professionel ledelse. Dette opfylder Baisikeli!"

MASANGA LEPROSY HOSPITAL

In Masanga, Sierra Leone, used Danish bikes is the backbone of a healthy workshop and business that educates, repair bikes and sell them to the local community. The revenue is spent on development of the workshop and the Masanga Hospital.

• The situation:
• 1 out of 8 women die giving birth
• 26,2% of all children die before age 5
• There is approx. 168 doctors to the 5.8 milliion inhabitants in Sierra Leone.
• Sources: The state of the worlds children 2009 , UNICEF (link), Out of reach, The cost of maternal health in Sierra Leone, Amnesty International (link) , IRIN Africa

"The Masanga project is in rapid development. From a project focused primarily on restoring the hospital buildings, installing hospital equipment and initiating treatments, it now comprises training programmes, a number of entrepreneurial projects and a range of expansions in the medical areas."
Formand, Peter Bo Jørgensen, Chairmans report 2009 (link)

Due to the civil war in 1991-2002 the health service system is almost non-existent in Sierra Leone. The Masanga project is about restoring the hospital and offering free medical care. Today they have 25.000 treatments a year and the hospital is growing fast. Baisikeli has collaborated with Masanga Hospital to open a bike workshop and point of sales and we have grown this to become a good and sustainable business on the hospital ground, which educates employees and co-finances the hospital. Used Danish bike means a great deal in the workshop.

"The bicycle workshop, which is run in co-operation with Baisikeli, is growing and bikes are being repaired and sold. The workshop is functioning well and its economy is fine. We are now able to invest in extensions and import more used bikes from Denmark."  
Chairmans report 2009 (link)

Read more on www.masanga.dk

Grethe and Leo have been married for more than 30 years and since 1981 worked in east-Africa. In 2002 the opened a bike workshop that produced a specially designed backrack for the farming industry. Their main thought was that if you could help the farmers make their work 100% more efficient you could improve the entire nations GDP as more than 50 % of the Tanzanian people are working in farming.

Today Grethe and Leo manage the workshop in Arusha where the Danish bikes are being sent to, repaired and sold locally.

BSM

BSM is Baisikelis partner in the production of our own brand and special orders. We have chosen BSM from criteria as professionalism and quality,  but maybe most importantly from their innovative participation. It is interesting to work with them, as we can always expect real participation in the assignment, which then creates a firm basis for developing our products.

Steen Sørensen from BSM explains: "Da vi først stiftede bekendskab med Baisikelis ideer om cykelproduktion var jeg da lidt skeptisk. Det viste sig dog, at være en spændende opgave og der er mange spændende nuancer i at bygge cykler af den kvalitet vi har med at gøre her."

A part of BSMs extra participation is regarding the development of a bicycle industry in Africa. Employees from BSM will travel with Baisikeli's employees and together begin new projects that will give benefit to a lot of people.

www.bsm.dk

MERKUR BANK

Our bank

Read more on www.merkurbank.dk

CENTER FOR SOCIAL ECONOMY

A Danish NGO promoting the field of social economy with help and support.

Read more on www.socialokonomi.dk