Interesting broadcast on what they are doing recycling older bikes to Africa, havent listened to the Europe or China broadcasts yet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/fallandriseofthebicycle/pip/ehip5/
Thats fine and good, but it seems that it would be much smarter to simply recycle the metals of unwanted bicycles, or sell the nice ones at auction, and by using the monies usually spent on parts and shipping, purchasing something like basic Flying Pigeon PA-02s from China at $20 a pop. Alternately they can get Indian roadsters. Both come completely broken down so the locals will still learn how to build bikes. It makes much more sense when bikes in such a poor area are standardized, and require no more than a spanner and three different sized rocks to service.
Those standard roadsters can also easily be modded to be more modern:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/east03.html