WHY PAMPRO BAMBOO BIKES?
Booomers International, the maker of Pampro Bikes, is a social enterprise founded in 2014 by Kwabena Danso with a mission to produce high quality, affordable bamboo products that have economic and social benefits to customers around the world. Since Booomers International inception, more than 10,000 bike frames and thousands of bamboo accessories have been made and delivered.
LIGHTWEIGHT & COMFORTABLE
Bamboo is a unique alternative to traditional bicycle frames. It is far lighter than steel, more comfortable than aluminium and cheaper than carbon fibre. Bamboo has a higher specific tensile strength than steel and a higher specific compressive strength than concrete. This means it’s strong enough to carry loads like shopping or camping equipment but has good vibration control for a smooth ride and good stability. Our customers report great handling and have taken the bikes over mountain ranges, crossed continents and have competed in international road races.
A MORE SUSTAINABLE CHOICE
Our customers are aware of the impact their choices have on the environment. Bamboo grows fast – it reaches maturity in two months and is easily replanted. The plants consume CO2 and emit oxygen helping battle climate change. Our manual farming process needs no harmful fertilisers and is incomparable to the energy-intensive manufacturing process behind a steel, aluminium or carbon fibre frame. We use plant-based eco-resin epoxy and local sisal fiber for strong, durable joints. What’s more, you’re showing a new generation that there are more sustainable ways to make everyday products.
SOCIAL IMPACT
The sale of every Booomers bike helps young people in rural Ghana develop skills and an income that will set them up for the future. Our employees receive a decent wage, social security, lunch and health care benefits and we indirectly support 200 farmers across the region. Through our foundation we have gifted 150 bamboo bicycles to local schools in partnership with UNICEF, support 400 school children through scholarships and fund libraries and computer labs across the region. All of Booomers International profits are reinvested to employ more people and fund education projects in rural communities.
OUR STORY
Booomers factory is located in Apaah, Ghana where team members are provided on-the-job training and a steady income that can be difficult to find in rural Ghana. This means our team do not have to leave their home villages or towns to find work. Booomers employs over 40 young people aged between 18 and 29, and also indirectly employ 20 young people who harvest. We are working to provide over 200 farmers skills to go int bamboo agro-forestry to ensure the sustainable supply of our main raw material in a ddittion to our 50 acre bamboo plantation.
The Booomers journey began in 2009 when frame-building pioneer Craig Calfee introduced Kwabena to the special properties of bamboo for bicycle frames. Kwabena saw an opportunity to help young people in rural areas of Ghana develop new skills by crafting a high performance handmade product using local sustainable materials. We developed a range of frames and our partner, MyBoo, submitted them for testing in Germany, Taiwan and Australia to receive quality certifications. In 2015 we started exporting bamboo bike frames to Germany and now have happy customers across Australasia, North America and Europe. Pampro Bikes was launched in 2023 in the US, bringing Booomers bamboo bikes to North America.
The work of Booomers and our founder has been recognized and supported through local and international programs including the YouthActionNet program, the UK Department for International Development’s ENGINE project, the Tony Eleumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program and the African Entrepreneurship Award. Most recently Kwabena was selected for the Obama Foundation Leaders African Programme 2018.
