Connectivity, Electricity and Education for
Entrepreneurship:
Powering ICT & Livelihoods for
Development in Uganda
CE3 PROJECT, BOSCO UGANDA
BATTERY OPERATED SYSTEMS FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH
PRESENTED BY JOEY RICH
[email protected]
About the CE3 Project
Started in 2014 with funding from the University of Notre Dame and Accenture Foundation.
Implemented by BOSCO Uganda with assistance from the funding organizations.
About BOSCO Uganda
Non-governmental organization associated with the Catholic church, and based in northern
Uganda.
Started in 2007 through the implementation of a long range wifi network which provided critical
communications channels to IDP camps and local authorities during Uganda’s LRA insurgency.
Two main areas of business:
◦ Providing internet to local government offices, schools and private sector businesses.
◦ Maintaining a network of internet connected computer centers which are open to the public.
◦ Providing education services to the public.
Project Goals and Objectives
Identify methods for catalyzing economic growth by providing support to entrepreneurs.
Run pilot programs at several locations to determine which (if any) of the following factors can
foster the creation & growth of small businesses.
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Providing solar energy to business premises in off-grid locations.
Providing entrepreneurs with internet access via local ICT centers.
Local mentorship
Remote mentorship
Entrepreneurship training programs
Project Hypothesis
Providing small business owners with electricity, internet connectivity and business & IT
trainings is an effective way of promoting economic development.
Context
Unemployment in Uganda stands at approximately 70%
Even college graduates unemployed at a high rate.
Economy dominated by agriculture.
High percentage of population is engaged in subsistence farming.
Less than 25% of population uses grid electricity.
Uganda has been ranked as one of the world’s most entrepreneurial nations.
Average CE3 trainee reports 3 sources of income. (Primarily agricultural and service businesses).
Project Activities
1.
Assisting organizations to finance, design & install solar systems.
◦ Currently working primarily with schools in off-grid locations.
◦ PV systems may power an ICT lab only or may provide all energy for the organization.
2.
Facilitating the creation & improvement of ICT labs by providing internet connectivity via
BOSCO’s long range wifi network.
3.
Entrepreneurship activities
Part 1. Providing energy to businesses and educational spaces
Solar energy sites in Uganda
◦ Microgrids
◦ Lango College
30 kW
◦ John Paul II College
30 kW
◦ Solar for ICT labs
◦ King James Secondary School
1.2 kW
◦ St. Mary’s Lacor Secondary School
1.2 kW
◦ Bardege ICT Center
◦ Pabbo Subcounty ICT Center
1 kW
1.2 kW
Microgrid Business Model
• BOSCO Uganda contacts potential partner organizations who have high, unmet
energy needs. Then quantifies these energy needs and designs and costs out a
solution.
• Upon reaching an agreement with the organization, BOSCO finances the up front
investment.
• Solar panels, batteries & equipment are installed at the hosting organization
(“anchor tenant”).
• Energy created by the solar installation is
used by the anchor tenant and by nearby
shops & service businesses.
Microgrid Business Model (continued)
Energy consumers (businesses + anchor tenant) make payments for their electricity usage
using a prepaid system.
Payments for energy are placed in a savings account held jointly by BOSCO and the anchor
tenant. Repair & maintenance costs are paid for out of this account.
The anchor tenant builds ownership of the system through their monthly contributions,
eventually gaining full ownership of the system.
Part 2. Providing internet access to educational spaces.
BOSCO provides fixed point internet access to ICT labs at CE3 sites by installing long range wifi
equipment at the site which connects to BOSCO & telecom radio towers.
ICT centers are made available to members of the public.
BOSCO assists in publicizing these ICT spaces to members of the surrounding community.
As ISP provider for each ICT labs, BOSCO is able to monitor sites and respond to problems.
Part 3. Entrepreneurship Activities
Entrepreneurship Essentials, Skills to Succeed Curriculum
◦ 6 week training curriculum, developed by Accenture Foundation to provide basic business skills to
entrepreneurs in the East African context.
◦ Introduces fundamental business concepts such as profit vs loss and the basics of accounting.
◦ Goal 1: Getting participants to keep better records.
◦ Goal 2: Inspire participants to independently study business further via books and online resources.
◦ Business owners develop & refine their business plan, with a focus on preparing for micro-loan
opportunities.
Mentorship Program
Tried putting small business owners into mentorship relationships with local business leaders.
◦ Data collected from surveys indicates an increase in business profits for the mentees, indicating that
local mentorships are effective.
Tried putting small business owners into mentorship relationships with Accenture consultants
via Skype/email.
◦ Did not find evidence that mentees benefitted from this initiative.
Entrepreneurship Club Uganda
Developed with the goal of promoting entrepreneurship as something to be celebrated &
supported.
Many members have already gone through our Skills to Succeed curriculum.
Gives entrepreneurs a chance to share tips and to communicate about their challenges &
successes in a community of peers.
Gives people a chance to receive feedback on their ideas and business processes.
Entrepreneurship Club Uganda
• Currently active in 3 locations
• Typical participant in BOSCO’s CE3 Entrepreneurship club:
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Literate in English and Luo.
Aged 20 to 70
Runs a small service or agricultural business in town or in home village.
Has business and personal property but little or no cash savings.
Has no formal training in business.
Uses Mobile Money and cash but may not hold a traditional bank account.
Entrepreneurship Club Success Stories
Olwoch Collins is opening a small shop & grocery store called “Low Cost Kirombe” on his family land in
Gulu. When Collins heard about CE3’s free entrepreneurship training program on the radio, he was
quick to sign up. Through the Entrepreneurship Essentials curriculum, Collins developed his idea into a
business plan, which helped him to secure a loan of 8 million shillings ($2300 dollars) at an annual
interest rate of 19% from waSacco, Uganda’s largest savings and credit cooperative organization. Collins
invested about $1500 building the shop and is investing the remainder in stocking the shop with
groceries and other household items. Collins hopes to pay off the loan within 12 months with profits
from the business. Subsequently he plans to use profits from the store to support his wife and three
children and also to expand his maize & chia farming operations in his home village.
Proscovia Abwono has been baking and selling cakes in Gulu in since 2012. After joining CE3’s entrepreneurship club, Proscovia
registered her business as Easylife Cake Bakery and has seen her monthly revenues grow by approximately 30% in the past 4
months. Proscovia can fill orders for up to 25 cakes per day, but plans to invest in a new oven and mixing machine which will allow
her to produce 60 cakes per day for weddings, graduation parties and other special events. By continually improving her product,
Proscovia hopes to build a reputation as one of Gulu’s top bakeries. Proscovia and her husband were motivated to start this
business to provide for their two children, but Proscovia also hopes that her bakery will benefit her community by creating jobs for
single mothers in her village.
Business Plan Competitions
Developed to supplement Skills to Succeed entrepreneurship curriculum.
2 pilot competitions conducted so far.
Methodology changes based on lessons learned in each competition.
Judges rate teams using a rubric which rates both the written business plan and also the oral
presentation. Prize money is given out to the top presentations in different categories such as “Best
presentation”, “Most impactful business idea”, “Most likely to succeed”, “Best agri-business” etc.
Prize money is relatively small and is given out with no M&E requirements; prizes are intended to
motivate participants rather than fully funding business ventures.
Has been very successful in motivating people to sign up for entrepreneurship trainings and taking
entrepreneurship trainings seriously.
Very helpful in preparing individuals for micro-loan opportunities.
Part 4. Lessons learned & way forward
Provision of energy and internet connectivity can help towards developing livelihoods and
economic growth, but not alone.
Lack of money and business knowledge are the 2 greatest needs that entrepreneurs have.
Business trainings followed by an entrepreneurship club format for long term engagement is an
effective way to benefit entrepreneurs.
Helping entrepreneurs develop good financial habits is effective way of helping them succeed.
Microfinance is an important part of any solution for building livelihoods.
Bolicup &
Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs)
Essentially two words for the same thing.
Business model which organically springs up over and over again, popular across Africa and
especially Uganda.
Members who cannot get credit from microfinance institutions and banks take out loans from a
group of peers.
Independently proposed at both Entrepreneurship club branches & already implemented at one.
Funds are typically stored in a bank account with several trusted members having signing
authority over the account.
Members can request loans for their business, all members of the SACCO can then vote on
whether or not to approve the request.
Case Study: Group guaranteed individual loans
One SACCO studied in the CE3 project has been very successful in using a model where
individuals take out & pay back loans, but a small group is responsible for repaying the loan in
the event of default.
◦ SACCO comprises of about 120 members
◦ Members are grouped into small groups of about 6 members who are jointly responsible for paying
back loans in case of default (whenever repayments are not made on time).
◦ Small groups are selected so that no 2 members are family related.
◦ Members are encouraged to do due diligence on the members of their groups by learning where they
live, identifying mutual friends etc.
SACCO – Pros
SACCO’s are able to flourish and provide credit in environments where banks and MFI’s fail.
◦ Members of SACCOs are tightly connected, know each other well and are therefore able to make good
decisions about who can be trusted to repay a loan.
◦ Once loans are taken out, their repayment is enforced by a large network of local peers which is
effective in discouraging defaults, in contrast to MFIs and banks which cannot cost effectively enforce
loans, especially in areas with weak legal protections.
Gives unbanked people a way to save money.
SACCO – Cons
Risk of embezzlement by insiders.
Regulatory risk (UWMFO)
Capital is limited, limiting the number of people that may benefit from loans.
Future of the CE3 Project
Continuing to provide solar systems and internet to schools and public ICT centers.
Improved content & methodology for business training curriculum.
Development and expansion of business plan competition program.
Better integration with microfinance / SACCO programs.
Development of guidelines and technology for better management of Entrepreneurship Club
SACCO initiatives.