09 Feb 2025

Cycling as a mode of transport that has zero emission has been promoted amongst road users.

First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) held a Green Finance Family Fun Ride on Saturday to pave way for a greener tomorrow by pedaling distances of 50km, 30km and 5km in Gaborone.

The 50km distance took riders from Central Business District (CBD) through to Boatle interchange and back to the CBD, while the 30km riders pedaled from CBD through the town up to Mokolodi police road block where they made a turn back to their start point, and the 5km ride was a fun ride around the CBD.

In an interview with FNBB director of Retail Banking Monkgogi Mogorosi, she said they picked cycling as a sport and therefore bikes to raise awareness on sustainable practices that could help conserve the environment. She encouraged road users to sometime opt to ride bikes to work as a mode of transportation. Also, she said they used cycling as a sport around wellness and health matters, to build the spirit of healthy living.

The day had activities such as running and walking as well as stalls promoting and showcasing different possible sustainable conservation practices including solar energy, water reticulation systems, drilling boreholes powered with solar energy as well as promoting bike 'blenders' for smoothies.

"The plan is to have this initiative on a quarterly basis to re-emphasise the importance of sustainable practices so that we can conserve the environment for our future generation," Mogorosi said, adding that they had a good turnout especially the kids who participated in the activities.

She explained that part of the activity was a family fun ride which was exciting for the kids as they rode around the CBD.

"We need to teach them young about sustainable practices, so that they can carry on and share with others as they grow older," she cautioned.

Additionally, Mogorosi said they were considering to do more on the cycling space to further promote it as sport while also promoting sustainable practices.

“This was a pilot, we wanted to get a feel of the community. We want to promote cycling as a sport, and do something more with cycling as a sport," said Mogorosi.

Pedal Smoothies, a company that uses bikes to blend smoothies was among the exhibitors at the FNBB Green market day. The director Olerato Swallow said her company was established around 2020 after they saw a need to live healthy. She said with Pedal Smoothies, a person get to exercise and at the same time getting to eat healthy.

"You use your own energy to make your smoothie, unlike when you could be using the usual way of using an electric blender at home," Swallow explained. ENDS