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NESsT leads discussion on Social Enterprise for telecentres

Location: East Africa        
Created By: Esther on 23-Oct-2007 12:00 AM



The online session of the East Africa Telecentre Leaders Forum (EATLF), is focusing on social enterprise and how to sustain telecentres. The discussion is lead by NESsT social enterprise director, Loic Comolli. NESsT has 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. The outcomes of the online session will be furthered in the face to face event on November 8-9 2007 in Kampala, Uganda. The EATLF is an initiative of UgaBYTES Initiative with support from telecentre.org a collaborative initiative funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre, Microsoft, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Add your voice to the discussion here.

Below is Loic Comolli’s keynote address.

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 telecentre 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
telecentres 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

Web Site: http://www.nesst.org

East African Telecentre Leader Forum (EATLF) 2006 Report

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