Africa’s Unlimited Potential – Will Poole
Over the past two weeks, I’ve been in Africa to participate in a variety of activities supporting Microsoft Unlimited Potential’s efforts to bring the benefits of technology to the next 5 billion people.
The continent continues to show strong economic progress. In fact, Africa has seen the highest growth rate in a decade - according to the International Monetary Fund, growth averaged 6.5% in 2007. For our part, Unlimited Potential has been doing its level best to contribute to this great progress through our work in Africa over the past year. Just this past April, we supported the second annual African ICT Best Practices Forum, gathering over 300 public and private sector stakeholders to share effective technology solutions and implementations from their countries. And the company is already having a measurable impact in the region: according to IDC’s Global Economic Impact Study, for every dollar of revenue that Microsoft generates in the Middle East and Africa, other IT companies in the region generate $12.32 of revenue.
On June 4-5 in Cape Town, South Africa, I had the privilege to attend the World Economic Forum’s 2008 Roundtable on Africa. The event brought together government officials, private and public sector leaders, and others from across the continent and the world to discuss how Africa can best capitalize on this growing opportunity, while addressing the significant challenges still at large. As strong public-private partnerships are a primary focus of Unlimited Potential, this was a great opportunity to discuss our own strategies and programs with others closely involved in African development efforts.
On June 5th, I took part in a roundtable event, “The Rising Billions,” discussing the most effective way to reach the billions of people at the bottom of the economic pyramid and create new opportunities. I was joined by Mark J. Lamberti of Massmart Holdings, Professor Ethan B. Kapstein of INSEAD, Nick Moon of KickStart International, Kim Cloete of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of the Lagos State in Nigeria. I focused on our strategy through Unlimited Potential to provide technology to these underserved communities: creating programs and solutions that are relevant, accessible, and affordable.
For example, in Botswana, our Partnerships for Technology Access (PTA) initiative is helping civil servants to learn IT skills and affordably access PCs for home use, as well as helping 10,000 unemployed youth attain valuable job training skills and a planned national internet job site. In South Africa, through Unlimited Potential funding, the P.E.A.C.E Foundation will create community technology centers and offer ICT training programs with the goal of offering financial management and marketing courses to develop and expand small businesses. More than 3,000 people will benefit from this program over the next three years.
And across all of Africa, Microsoft has assisted in the refurbishment and licensing of almost 1 million PCs in Africa for students through our Fresh Start for Donated Computers Program.
Refurbished PCs can be the gateway to affordable technology for many individuals, small businesses, and schools. At the first African ICT Best Practices Forum held last year in Burkina Faso, we announced our plans to collaborate with UNIDO to establish a PC refurbishment center in Uganda that would give small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to affordable technologies and PCs.
A year on, I arrived in Kampala, Uganda on June 12th to announce the opening of this center in partnership with UNIDO and the Government of Uganda - the Uganda Green Computer Company.
The Uganda Green Computers Company represents a commercially and environmentally sustainable enterprise that supports the full life cycle of responsible local PC refurbishment.
From a commercial perspective, the Uganda Green Computers Company will aim to refurbish 10,000 quality-brand PCs a year and resell them at a retail price estimated to start at $175 (299,000 Ugandan shillings), one-third of the price of a new business PC. The PCs will include a one-year warranty and genuine Windows software.
And environmentally, the center will also properly disassemble the hardware, including reusing components such as memory sticks and working with regional or global recyclers to properly dispose of toxic substances like lead glass.
The Uganda Green Computers Company is a great example of how technology can help drive business and growth for entrepreneurs and SMEs, the cornerstones of any thriving local economy. The center will support over 50 local jobs in the coming year and help SMEs become more productive and grow, creating new local jobs in turn.
The center also supports the broader goals of ICT access in Uganda, by supplying affordable technology to partners in UNIDO’s District Business Information Centers in rural Uganda, where local SMEs are offered ICT training, business advisory services and access to the Internet.
Now, we know that technology can’t serve as a ‘silver bullet’ to remove all social or economic barriers, it's just one more tool. But in partnership with agencies like UNIDO and other private and public organizations, we can scale the impact of technology to have a real-world impact on the lives of those who can benefit most from it.
Thank you,
Will Poole
