The “Sport Africa Women Empowerment” association aims to train women entrepreneurs to lead micro “bike workshops.” Specialized in bicycle maintenance and repair, federated under the concept of the Bicycle Mechanics Institute, these workshops will make 30,000 bicycles operational and safe each year. Because they strengthen women’s autonomy while developing sustainable mobility for vulnerable groups such as students or township populations, this project has attracted Almayuda.
Jean-Baptiste Wiroth has always been passionate about cycling and bicycle travel, which he practices assiduously with his wife and daughters. A Doctor of Sports Science, he supports athletes and structures (companies, clubs, associations) by applying coaching methods used in high-level sports.
Expatriated to South Africa since 2018 with his family, in search of new opportunities, this native of Nice lives in Cape Town, where he created the “Sport Africa Women Empowerment” association.
This NGO carries the solidarity project of a bicycle mechanics institute, supported by Almayuda.
The Cape Bicycle Mechanics Institute
The idea, at the crossroads of sports, solidarity, and sustainable development, is based on two convictions:
- Strengthening female entrepreneurship will give women in townships the means to act more effectively in difficult social and economic conditions.
- Developing the bicycle as a sustainable mobility tool will provide an accessible solution for students and township populations to move around the congested metropolis of Cape Town. Provided, of course, that bicycle maintenance and repair services are available!
As this is far from always the case, the mechanics institute project aims to create and manage 100 micro “bike workshops” in the townships of Cape Town by women.
100 kits for 100 workshops
To launch the project, “Africa Women Empowerment” had to find the money to buy 100 kits including tools, stands, and workshop pumps to equip the “bike workshops.”
In addition, there were transport and communication costs, the cost of training 10 groups of 10 apprentice mechanics, each following a 10-hour training module over two days.
Training program:
– How to wash and lubricate a bicycle?
– How to repair a puncture?
– How to adjust a derailleur and brakes?
– How to change a derailleur cable and a brake cable?
– How to change handlebar tape?
Award-winning project and first training session in Khayelitsha
In October 2023, the project won the first Sustainable Development Prize of the Assembly of French Abroad (AFE), awarded by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. A trigger and certain proof that “the project was liked because it ticked many boxes!“
“Receiving this award was the culmination of 4 years of work. Both a satisfaction and a recognition,” rejoiced Jean-Baptiste Wiroth. Indeed, this recognition, later complemented by financial, material, and moral support from several partners, including the Almayuda foundation, allowed “Sport Africa Women Empowerment” to organize its first training session in the Khayelitsha Township on June 29 and 30, 2024.
Two days of exchange and sharing around the bicycle, with young women from the Grassroots Youth Academy Trust, an NGO operating in Khayelitsha in education and sports.
Subsequently, other sessions organized notably in Grabouw, in rural areas, allowed training a small group of about twenty mechanics.
500 mechanics
The well-launched project aims to provide skills to about a hundred women in 2024. “It took us time to find the right partners in the townships, but we found them. They help us recruit. And we will return to where we have already been, notably in Khayelitsha. In other sectors where we are building links, and later, we plan to go as far as Johannesburg…”
The ambition is to train 500 bicycle mechanics within 3 years, after expanding the project to men. “Of the 500 people, our goal is that at least 10% are highly qualified, capable of integrating sports store chains or creating their own business.”
To achieve this, “Sport Africa Women Empowerment” will rely on the network of clubs, associations, and NGOs working in cycling and embodying the country’s sports culture.
The initial training will focus on the basics of bicycle mechanics, supplemented by a few hours of study devoted to the basics of entrepreneurship. All the technical and commercial knowledge to launch and succeed in a micro-business!
Ambitions
In the longer term, “Africa Women Empowerment” aims to extend its scope of action to other African countries: Rwanda, organizer of the 2025 World Cycling Championships in Kigali, and Morocco, where Jean-Baptiste Wiroth has strong relationships…
Economically, the project aims for at least partial self-financing. To achieve this, the association plans to sell accessible training on mechanics, nutrition, training, etc.
Useful links:
Web : https://www.wts.fr/sport-academy/courses/bicycle-mechanics/
Instagram ; https://www.instagram.com/bicycle_mechanic_institute/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561679135819
Photos : Africa Women Empowerment