These bikes are manufactured and distributed by World Bicycle Relief, and while their model of charity is far from perfect (read here for an article with more info and cool background on African bike culture), the design itself is really intriguing.
For sure it’s a heavy-ass bike, but if you live somewhere relatively flat and don’t need to go very fast (aka an urban downtown area), I can imagine that this thing might be an incredibly useful bike.
That article was a great read, thanks for sharing. This is a pic of a Black Mamba bicycle, looks like a vintage bicycle, very functional. Apparently still produced in India.
In the car centric West most modern “city”/lady bikes sold are heavy as hell, you see them in every supermarket, lowest price and quality tier below crappy MTBs (not many people shell the money for a “Holland” type which is still a heavy city bike but much more robust and functional); that Black Mamba actually looks daily drivable, light enough closer to old racing bikes. Of course the Buffalo is even better, that rack alone rated for 100kg (220lbs) is amazing. Most bikes I see have 10kg or 20kg rated racks, more than ok for grocery shopping but not enough for passengers or heavy cargo or indestructibility :D