CooP-Africa started after the founders Marieke de Wild and Luuk Eickmans lived in Uganda in 2004. During their stay, they conducted research on the impact of bicycles on the livelihood of poor African women and their families. The results were impressive and upon return in the Netherlands they couldn’t forget about it. Under the name “Cycling out of poverty” they started small scale fundraising to support organisations in Uganda, Ghana and Burkina Faso with setting up bicycle projects. In 2007 Cycling out of Poverty was officially registered as a foundation and in 2012 it received the Dutch quality hallmark for small charities from CBF.