OUR STORY

When Kwabena Danso left his rural hometown for the bright lights of Accra, Ghana’s capital city, he was excited by the opportunities ahead of him. After completing his degree however he realised that these opportunities seemed to exist in the city but not where his family lived, in the lush green countryside outside. If the opportunities where he grew up weren’t there for a graduate, what chances did those with little education have?  

He teamed up with some fellow students and set up the Yonso Foundation to support education projects for children, especially girls. He met many interesting people who were also trying to open up opportunities for rural communities - one of whom was Craig Calfee, a bike frame-building pioneer over from the US. In 2009 Craig introduced Kwabena to the special properties of bamboo for bicycle frames.  Kwabena saw an opportunity to help young people in his home town develop new skills by crafting a high performance handmade product using local sustainable materials. 

He went home to build a factory and after receiving international quality certifications, Booomers started exporting beautiful frames around the world. Our largest partner, MyBoo, sell their bikes throughout Europe. We have since produced over 3,000 frames and employ over 50 young people aged between 18 and 29. We also provide an income to 20 young people who harvest and 200 farmers who cultivate bamboo. 

In 2019 we researched the market in North America and have created a small range of hand-crafted, affordable bikes to suit the US and Canada.

The work of Booomers and our founder has been recognised and supported through local and international programmes 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 participated in the Obama Foundation Leaders African Programme 2018.