Fwd: Notes from ICT Board
warigia bowman
Yours, Rigia
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The role of the telecoms was supposed to be much stronger. They have not pushed as much as we thought they would. And I don’t know if that is the result of the maturity of the business environment? Given the long term goal of what we are trying to achieve, I would have expected the telcos to see the long term benefit. They are taking a bit of time to respond to the needs of the entrepreneur.
When was the ICT Board funded?
It is a state corporation. It was created in 2007. It is under MOIC. We report to the Minister through PS Ndemo. It is a state corporation. There are some technicalities. We are not revenue generating. We are not a parastatal. The CEO is Paul Kukubo. The Minister cannot fire the CEO. There have to be grounds. The Board is semi-autonomous.
Our Mission. We are looking at the promotion of ICT, not only within government, but in Kenya, and marketing Kenya as an ICT Hub. An ICT Hub is an environment where we have the skillset and the enabling environment. The industries, the human resources, the connectivity, to serve our citizens and bring in international revenue.
We want to move towards being a knowledge economy, with ICT being the driving factor. A knowledge economy: 1) access to information, and how that information is being used by citizens; 2) access services from the public and private sector ; and 3) improve livelihoods.
Why is it important for rural Kenyans to have access to a knowledge economy?
1) Vision 2030. Access to Information is important. The government is trying to become more efficient in providing services to citizenry. Efficiency is heavily ICT based.
2) Citizens need to be more ICT savvy, not just to access government services, but for socio-economic growth.
This approach is being driven by well-placed technocrats. Kibaki’s background is in finance. He gave a listening ear to technocrats about how ICT can advance his economic goals. That is why he has been able to sign off on various ICT related projects.
I don’t think you can say pashas are a policy accomplishment for the moment. The impact of ICT can not be seen outside the urban areas. One thing that the government was looking at to really highlight what they have done was the landing of the cables. Prices have come down, but consumers were expecting more of a cut than has occurred. The rural areas cannot feel the effect of the pashas until something else happens.
3 gateways, Seacom, Orange, Teams. Some bought into the government networks. Teams. Seacom is private. We are expecting another terrestrial line. A French consortium.
I think there is an idea of empowering people in Kenya. The government is trying to open up its books. It is publishing info on the CDF which directly affects rural areas. Nowadays, the judiciary law report is online. Open Data. Student population can get information on scores. That information has a social impact. Maybe the government is not shouting loud enough. The drive is there to make government more transparent. The parliamentary proceedings are now live. The government is opening up slowly to its citizens.
Why Have Pashas?
One is access to information in rural areas. The second, the government would like to see a situation where private individuals are able to create employment as opposed to waiting for government to do it. It is seed money for showing the private sector that you can bank your money in an ICT business and make a return. Try to stimulate a sector that is an avenue for citizens to get information and employment generation.
When did the pasha program start?
Around 2007. The ministry had started a similar project that did not materialize. When the ICT Board was formed, it came. The initial idea was business training, write a business plan. After the business plan was vetted, a soft loan would be given. The terms of reference for the training were written. Because of the election, we lost six months. During that time of volatility, donors froze funding and waited to see what was happening.
In 2009, we got the go ahead to move. Training was conducted from July 2009-Jan 2010. This set of individuals was asked to turn in their business plans. At that time, it was generally agreed that we could not limit ourselves to people who were trained. The decision was made to open up competitive bidding of the revolving fund to the public.
We had to write a document to take to the World Bank showing how the Kenyan ICT Board would take money from the WB and distribute it to persons in 210 constituencies. When the ministry of Finance signed the documents, the actioanl project documentation had not been completed. The “Digital Villages Revolving Fund” is reall for pashas. In WB terms, it is called Digital village. We had to brand Government DVs pashas.
How much WB funding is there for pashas?
That is a good question. 4 million US has been committed. When the WB has approved documentation that is taken to the MOF. At that level, the document is shared with the WB counterpart at the MOF, then the ICT Board requests funds for disbursement. 1.3 million has been disbursed from the WB. That occurred on May 2011.
173 constituencies remain. In January, we did a call for proposals. We got 680 applications. Those proposals were submitted to Family Bank. The applicants took proposals to Family Bank. They look at its viability- is it bankable. We asked them to send 3 from each location. Family Bank sent 50.
Is the Business Plan requirement just a weeding mechanism?
We had a certain format that we could follow. As a board, we felt that as a financial institution on the ground, they would be the best person to judge whether they could pay back the loan.
From the first round, we took away some learnings. Out of 50, Family Bank was invited to present all 50 applicants, and from there, the grant committee decided who would get the loan. The grants committee is looking at impact, vision wise, the individual.
I would like
1) A hard copy of the application (received)
2) A successful business plan
3) An unsuccessful business plan.
Based on my calculations, you have a five percent success rate. Also, the centers are not distributed well throughout the nation.
Big problem. Distribution is a problem. We cannot just give on the basis of distribution. The ultimate goal was to get to 210.
So, constituencies in good shape will go first?
[Shiroya is from Western]. If I get a communication, I tell my guy in shags. In western, he will keep it to himself. But in areas in central, they will talk more. Some areas had lower communication about it. The idea is to have 1 pasha across the country, so it will be well distributed by the end.
The second round holds more promise. Because of the time line. The second round will occur the first week of October. We published in the Nation. They will start applying in October. Our first round target was between 30-50. We met that. Now we expect a lot more participation.
Many of the applicants said I was the second person they had seen besides the credit officer, and that you had not called or visited.
We are very thin on the ground. We need more staff. We do a lot of support via email. A more personalized approach would help.
I am on some other projects. A laptop initiative for university students. Provides a financial incentive to purchase a laptop from prequalified vendors such as Safaricom, Ravenzzot Trading, Wincon, Fones Direct and PC World. These are distributors. We give students a voucher. They have to register online. There are university coordinators. We use the electronic voucher to order a laptop online. 9600 KSH. 15,667 students have benefited.
The benefit is that the student gets to own a laptop. Most of the student labs are packed. This way, would be helping students complete assignments and get into the culture of using ICT.
I verbally registered my skepticism regarding the utility of the laptop project at this point.
We are working with KENET to improve connectivity within universities. Interconnectivity inside them, and among them.
What is the role of pashas in exposing people to government services?
Before it kicked off, it was one view, after another view. Open data. Nothing is specifically tied to the pasha center. Up to the entrepreneurs to find innovative ways to get clients.
We will provide training on e-health and e-learning. The first exposure will be in October. And biovision. The next step is to sit down and train them.
They need more hands on training.
We are going to work on the tariffs. Unfortunately, we need to participate about the whole process. It is very bureaucratic and takes time.
What about the waiver from the Universal Service Fund that the telecom operators are receiving?
We are not aware of this waiver. The waiver comes from CCK. We can come up with a great program we can present the objectives. We have not made any gains. Apart from reporting to the PS or the minister . . . .
What we had agreed with the telcos was to provide bandwidth, bundled with other services. Last year we tried to approach the CCK. They said they were working on a framework of the USF. The issue died then.
Build the necessary infrastructure. NOFBI is completed at the district headquarters. It is managed by Telkom Kenya.
You want to build a pasha in Garissa, how does the pasha benefit from having a NOFBI termination point?
The use of NOFBI is supposed to be a predominantly government network. Talk to Anthony Mugambi or Victor Kyalo.
Had a meeting with family bank. Will do a communication.
One Pasha manager said she needed to register to do IT training. Aren’t pashas already registered?
There are separate certificates they have to attain to be able to give out certifications. Those are separate.
Disbursements have been coming out slowly. The bank seems to be of the opinion that they have to be sure how the money is spent. There is a slow turnaround time.
One of our grantees has come up with “ask a doc”. You input your symptoms. Sent to the nearest nearby doctor.
Is the overall objective of what we asked for the money really being achieved? The funding was. Approvals take long. The USF would be good. If a need is identified, we could quickly channel the money and address that need. Pasha centers need a lot of handholding. USF money would be a good avenue, if decisions could be made quickly, and needs identified and addressed. A country that is able to address its own problems with its own money is better off.
At the ICT
Board website, look under digital inclusion. Anywone who was turned down, can
go to family bank and find out why we turned them down. Maybe the fellow in
Oloitok tok [whom I thought should be a pasha] had applied for training. 7000
people applied for training. We trained 1500. The training was doen at the
constituency level at 150 sites countrywide.
I don’t think that they reallt take into consideration the total resources
required to run a project. I am trying to imagine what will happen when we try
to do the 210.
Why can’t safaricom and other operators help do the training?
End of Interview.