Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) is a United States-based nonprofit organization that partners with local governments to connect communities via pedestrian trailbridges, in addition to providing technical assistance and resource mobilization. Bridges to Prosperity is based in Denver, Colorado, with an operational headquarters in Rwanda and staff around the world.
Trailbridges are cost-effective, durable, and safe, as well as easy for rural communities to build with only modest support, while the impact is great. A randomized control study completed at the University of Notre Dame concluded that bridge connectivity increases farm profits by 75%, labor market income by 36%, and overall household income 30%.
Since its foundation, Bridges to Prosperity has constructed over 450 bridges, connecting over 1.5 million people across 21 countries.
Bridges to Prosperity's current efforts are centered in East Africa due to a compelling mix of need (with millions living in rural isolation due to impassable rivers), existing interest from national governments to invest, the region's track record of safety and stability of leadership, and Bridges to Prosperity's long-standing relationships in the region.
In 2019, Bridges to Prosperity partnered with the government of Rwanda in the organization's first scaled program to build over 200 trailbridges between 2019 and 2024, serving over 660,000 people in that time frame. A similar program was started in Uganda in 2018 to test a country-wide coalition approach to bridge building. Finally, in 2021, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust provided a $10.7 million 3-year partnership between Helvetas, Bridges to Prosperity, and the Government of Ethiopia to construct 150 bridges between 2022 and 2025, serving over 1.3 million people in that time frame.
Mission
Bridges to Prosperity uses a community-driven approach and intelligent technology to deliver multi- dimensional impact to thousands of communities worldwide. Their trailbridges are built to unlock opportunity, expand the reach of other development interventions, and ultimately eliminate poverty caused by rural isolation.
Their vision: We envision a world where poverty caused by rural isolation no longer exists.
Their belief: Rural isolation is a root cause of poverty. Connection is the foundation for opportunity.
History
Bridges to Prosperity was established by Kenneth Frantz in 2001, after seeing a photo in National Geographic Magazine of a broken bridge over the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia, with ten men on either side of the broken span pulling themselves across the chasm by rope.
Transport is a crucial driver of development, bringing socio-economic opportunities within the reach of the poor and enabling economies to be more competitive. Transport infrastructure connects people to jobs, education, and health services; it enables the supply of goods and services around the world; and it allows people to interact and generate the knowledge that creates long-term growth. Rural roads, for example, can help prevent maternal deaths through timely access to childbirth-related care, boost girls’ enrollment in school, and increase and diversify farmers’ income by connecting them to markets.
The World Bank estimates that over 1 billion people do not have access to transportation networks. Bridges to Prosperity determined that positive results could be attained by spreading the technology by building approximately 10–20 demonstration bridges per country, training locals, partnering with local technological institutes, providing downloadable and easy to use step-by-step photo and video manuals, and supplying free wire rope and wire rope clamps/clips for post training/demonstration programs. Bridges to Prosperity has focused on education and training, the propagation of technical manuals, and trailbridge building text books as components of trailbridge building best practices.
