[kictanet] Update on Pasha Centres

[Paul Kukubo]

Listers


Ø  Kenya ICT Board will facilitate the establishment of digital access
centers, to be known as Pasha Centres across the country.

Ø  Facilitation will take the following form

o   An Entrepreneurs will obtain a loan from Family Bank for up to a maximum
of Kshs 3M to set-up or expand and existing digital access centre.

o   Kenya ICT Board will provide a technical consultant to support the
technical set up and management.

o   Branding and communication support in order to manage the Pasha Brand
and drive consumer interest and usage.

o   Management of the Pasha Community portal to allow collaboration and
knowledge sharing among Pasha managers.

o   Continuous Training and skills development for Pasha Owners.

o   Liaison with public sector and local and international content providers
who may want to access the public through the Pasha network.



Ø  *Pasha Centres will provide a variety of services that could include the
following:*

o   Internet access, including serving as wifi hotspot providers for the
area.

o   Training and educational material provision

o   Mobile and agency banking

o   Other retail services

o   Money transfer services

o   Government services

o   Jobs bureau

o   Supply chain facilitation including assisting retailers and wholesalers
with IT needs

o   Technology support centres for the region

o   Tourism support

o   NGO Liaison support

o   Data collection for government, NGOs and private sector

o   Business Process outsourcing and data entry services



*The Plan*

Ø  Monday 24th January 2011, public launch of Pasha Project.

Ø  Target date for first disbursement of loan is 90 days from launch date.
The disbursing bank will require 90 days to review applicants and conclude
initial loan disbursements.

Ø  Disbursements will be made to entrepreneurs who fulfill agreed conditions
and don’t necessarily have to be among those that had received Pasha
training prior. Kenya ICT Board in 2009 and 2010 had conducted nationwide 3
week training of 1000 people in business management, entrepreneurship,
marketing, basic accounting and technical management (a starter-kit) to
prepare potential pasha managers to run Pasha centre.

Ø  The agreement with the bank is to ensure we disburse at least one loan
per county within the year. Our eventual target is to have 210 pasha
centers, one in each constituency by 2012. We shall asses the appetite and
would not be surprised if the demand for loans exceeds our target.

Ø  We shall encourage entrepreneurs to partner with the networks and any
other organizations to beef up their business plans in preparation for loan
application and to make their businesses more commercially viable.



*Mechanics of disbursement *

All applications will be forwarded to family bank for commercial assessment.
Family bank and an committee appointed by the Kenya ICT Board will assess
the best loan candidates on a set of agreed criteria and award the loan
against this and a sound and verified business plan. We shall be keen to
ensure that people don’t push through paper plans for the sake of cash.

More details will be available on www.ict.go.ke and www.pasha .co.ke



Paul Kukubo
Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board
PO Box 27150 - 00100
Nairobi, Kenya

12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange Street

Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960
Fax: +254 20 2211962
website: www.ict.go.ke
local content project: www.tandaa.co.ke, www.facebook.com/tandaakenya
twitter:@tandaaKENYA
BPO Project: www. doitinkenya.co.ke
Digital Villages Project: www.pasha.co.ke


personal contacts
_______________

Cell: + 254 717 180001


skype: kukubopaul
googletalk: pkukubo
personal blog: www.paulkukubo.co.ke
personal twitter: @pkukubo


____________________
Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub

Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT,
through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for
socio economic enrichment
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