Ghana: Networking for Local Development

The LearnLink Project, Academy for Educational Development (AED)

In practice, the telecenter model is very diverse. Some charge for services, but some are free. Some are connected to the Internet and some are stand-alone. Some are commercial and some are not-for-profit. Some exist primarily to serve businesses and some to serve the rank-and-file population. Some specialize in training in software applications and helping new users, while others focus on serving experienced users who want to come in and do email, participate in online distance education, or play computer games. Some are in bus stops, others are in pizza parlors or libraries or shopping malls. Some are large with many machines and employees, while the smallest ones consist of a single unstaffed computer kiosk.

One interesting project in Ghana is exploring the practicality of non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, establishing self-sustaining telecenters. NGOs represent a potentially important category of telecenter operators, because they bring to the table a concern for social issues and community development. In Ghana, the LearnLink Project is working with three local NGOs to test this approach:

• Partners for the Internet in Education (PIE), a new association of primary and secondary school teachers based in the greater Accra region;
• The Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), based in Kumasi and engaged in building human capacity through training programs; and
• The Central Region Development Commission (CEDECOM), which focuses on small-scale enterprise, rural housing, and tourism development in Cape Coast.

Empowerment: Networking for Local Development is the theme chosen by the NGOs to describe their new Community Information Center (CIC) initiative. With USAID support provided by LearnLink, the CICs are offering an array of communications and education technologies, including access to the Internet, to residents in three Ghanaian communities. The NGOs manage and run the Centers while LearnLink’s Resident Advisor and staff in Washington, D.C. lend their expertise to ensure that the Centers operate with appropriate, state-of-the-art applications, have a good shot at sustainability, and achieve measurable impact on community needs and priorities.

One of the greatest strengths of the CIC program is its focus on training. To prepare the Center staff to run the Centers and the host NGOs to manage them, LearnLink’s Resident Advisor, Jonnie Akakpo, has offered training courses on computer literacy, Internet orientation, word processing, spreadsheets, presentation graphics and other software applications, as well as web site development, accounting, the development of business plans, training methodologies, and presentation skills.

To engage the community, the host NGOs have offered similar training opportunities to the public. The response has been enthusiastic, demonstrating the potential of the CIC activity. During one three-month period, for example, 70 clients registered for programs at the CEDEP NGO, including 45 males and 25 females, among whom 53 were students and teachers and the rest administrators and technicians. Programs of interest included computer literacy, Internet orientation and self-tutoring typing.

Jonnie Akakpo and the NGOs also have organized public seminars on topics of interest, including "Y2K: Origin, Myths, Realities and Solutions" and "The Internet and its Benefits to Society." Both have been well attended, indicating the growing market for computer and Internet awareness among the Ghanaian population. More focused seminars are being designed, as well, to meet the specific needs of community constituents. An example that targets the business community is "The Computer as a Tool in Medicine," which was organized for a medical practitioners association in Kumasi.

This approach sets a solid foundation for the ultimate sustainability of the centers, which will count largely on client fees to operate when external funding ends. As community needs are identified and CIC services are geared to meet them, the NGOs are designing realistic pricing and usage policies. At CEDEP, for example, a four-tiered pricing policy has been adopted, with students and teachers at the lowest end followed by NGOs and community-based organizations, public and civic servants, and the business community.

Ultimately, it is hoped that the CICs will evolve to meet the multimedia needs of a variety of organizations, companies and individuals throughout the country. To ensure relevance to constituent priorities, needs assessments are being conducted to identify products and services in demand, and CIC staff are trained to help visitors become familiar with the technologies, resources and services offered at the Centers. The three NGOs are working to create a CIC environment that is conducive to learning and arrange staff training in management, computer operations and outreach. They also have established monitoring mechanisms to measure initial demand and will work with LearnLink staff to collect baseline data and create an evaluation tool to assess the impact of the CICs on community learning systems.

Access to computers, the Internet and email is a new phenomenon in Ghana. As such, LearnLink’s Resident Advisor wisely set prerequisite technical criteria before allowing the installation of the computer equipment in the NGO facilities. He was concerned with space suitability and the security of the area, as well as the provision of furniture, the installation of telephone lines, and air conditioning. One NGO balked at the need to carpet the room containing the computers, for example, though it acquiesced when Mr. Akakpo explained that carpeting was needed to absorb dust that otherwise would be freely circulating in the room. Of particular concern was the adequate supply of electrical power, which he ascertained through voltage readings. To date, two of the three NGOs have passed Mr. Akakpo’s inspection.

LearnLink, USAID Contract HNE-I-00-96-00018-00, is funded by the Human Capacity Development Center in the Global Bureau, the Africa Bureau, and other Bureaus, offices and missions, and is operated by AED.