[UgaBYTES] EATLF- Social enterprise and how to sustain telecentres

[Jose']

 Greetings collegues,

Who uses social enterprise in the region? What are some of the
 lessons
learned (good and bad)?

We as Kimathi Information Centre took a twist from hopping to be "assisted" by the private sector and integrated the new concept "Social enterpreneurship".
It involves several logistics on the ground by involving the private sector and government institutions for advice and paper work.

I must admit that its one of the bitter pills to swallow but the aftermath is so beautiful and glows well.
Bad lessons learnt? If you don't get to be professional,you loose alot of "trust" from the private sector.



- What social enterprise products and services can be offered in
 telecentres?

The social enterprise products to be offered vary from regions.In my case,
I have integrated the community to come up with innovative ideas that they suggest to us then we try and raise funds to implement.
One of the most practical is our sourcing of business.This involves from event management,workshop training,running errands for estate dwellers
and so much more.

we are currently trying to push for sub dealership of products from the private sector to be integrated
within our region.

We also hold business workshops and charge a small fee to cater for profit.(Ask me how)

- What challenges exist to telecentre social enterprises? How can they
 be
overcome?

Lack of professionalism is one of the key challenges telecentres should brace!! We lost an outsourced job just because
we didn't seek consultation and burnt our fingers because we were so excited for the new business.

Since we braced our selves to go look for outsourcing,we thought that we would be favored because we are in the "civil society"
we thought that we shall be given more privillages.That challenge made us pause and re-srategise our move towards "fighting" in the throat cutting business of outsourcing.

How we can over come this challenges is always keep in touch with the current  market trends,
be as flexible as possible on your negotiating skills,
and be ready to get disappointed at one time.
"The sun has to rise in the west one day in your life"

Regards,
Jose'



Loic Comolli <lcomolli at nesst.org> wrote: Dear Telecentre Leaders,

It is my pleasure to start this online discussion on “Social
Enterprise and How to Sustain Telecentres.” At NESsT (www.nesst.org)
we have for the past two years partnered with the International
Development Research Center (IDRC) and telecentre.org to increase the
sustainability of telecentres and their networks around the world, and I
hope to be sharing experiences from this work during the next two weeks.
The objectives of this discussion are to:

- Clarify the role that social enterprise can play in telecentres’
sustainability

- Present examples of successful social enterprises

- Generate ideas for telecentre products and services

- Promote the field of social enterprise among regional telecentres

- Use the outcomes of this discussion to inform the Fourth East Africa
Telecentre Leaders Forum on November 8 and 9.

The online discussion will take place from October 22 to November 2.

Telecentre sustainability is a theme central to many current debates among
telecentre practitioners, donors, support organizations, and governments.
For the most part, telecentres remain dependent on donors or do not have
the necessary resources to sustain their activities, a challenge similar
to the one many nonprofit and community-based organizations/associations
experience around the world. In practical terms, telecentres that are not
sustainable face the following challenges:

- Dependence on one donor (or a few) – these can be international
NGOs, foundations, corporations, government, etc.

- Insufficient revenues to sustain the telecentre over the long term

- Difficulty in covering expenses (on a monthly or yearly basis)

- Limited offer, in terms of quantity and quality, of products or services

To increase their sustainability, more and more telecentres are turning to
social enterprise. NESsT uses the term social enterprise to refer to
activities nonprofit organizations (NGOs) start to generate their own
income and to supplement external donor funding. For telecentres, the
benefits from social enterprise can include:

- Increased income: the telecentre can generate new and greater income to
sustain its operations, if the social enterprise is profitable.

- Diversified revenues: social enterprise can help diversify the
telecentre’s revenue base and help reduce dependence on fluctuating
funding sources.

- Greater flexibility: social enterprise income is unrestricted (i.e., not
tied to specific donor funds) and can be used based on the telecentre
needs.

- Improved overall telecentre performance: Financial and managerial
discipline required for social enterprise can also improve overall
telecentre efficiency, planning and systems.

- Increased visibility: marketing for the social enterprise can help reach
new audiences for the telecentre and its mission.

- Increased self-confidence: telecentre leaders and staff can gain
confidence from realizing they have the ability to generate income for
their mission.

Around the world there has been significant progress in telecentre social
enterprises. Today telecentres offer advanced and sophisticated products
and services to sustain their activities and to better respond to the
needs of their constituencies. Outside of traditional ICT products and
services (internet, printing, telephone, photocopying, etc.), some
examples include:
- ICT courses
- Financial services
- Health services
- Employment services, such as career counseling
- Marketing of community products for sale to national or international
markets
- Mobile phone services (for example, mobile phone banking, which provides
banking services through a mobile phone)

The use of these products and services are helping a still-limited number
of telecentres to become sustainable, in particular in South Asia.

To kick off this discussion, I would like to know your views on the use of
social enterprise to increase telecentre sustainability. In particular,
some interesting points of discussion can be:

- Do you view social enterprise as an opportunity to increase telecentre
sustainability?

- Who uses social enterprise in the region? What are some of the lessons
learned (good and bad)?

- What social enterprise products and services can be offered in telecentres?

- What challenges exist to telecentre social enterprises? How can they be
overcome?

I look forward to your views and by engaging in this exchange of ideas to
increasing the sustainability of telecentres in East Africa.

Best,
Loic
_________________
Loïc Comolli
Enterprise Development Director
NESsT
lcomolli at nesst.org
www.nesst.org

*** NESsT 1997-2007: Celebrating ten years of investing in social
enterprise solutions. Visit www.nesst.org/anniversary. ***




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Best Regards, 
Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || 
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