EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20

ICTs for Development: A Social Entrepreneurs Perspective

Introduction Technology is no longer a mere enabler, it is now central to the way we work, live and play. Actually, a New Economy has evolved1, with its evident signs including the ability for anyone anywhere in the world to gain access to almost any information at any time. Hence, the inability of a section of the worlds population to benefit maximally from the popular opportunities that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and its vast youth population provide in promoting economic transformation and reducing poverty is of great concern. Recent studies and reports have rightly placed emphasis on the need for developing countries to use ICTs for development, such as the United Nations Development Programs Human Development Report which stated that, information and communications technology (ICT) can also make an important development impact, because it can overcome barriers of social, economic and geographical isolation, increase access to information and education, and enable poor people to participate in more of the decisions that affect their lives.2 ICTs have become useful in the delivery of social value. While there have been numerous efforts to address development needs across the world, the need to build enduring models that will not end as pilot projects has been helped by the emergence of social entrepreneurship, a concept that focuses on sustainability and enables the major actor to adopt business concepts for use in the delivery of social interventions. Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to societys most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change3. Many social entrepreneurs have found new technologies useful in the delivery of their work, and in communicating the results to a wider audience; and this gives them the ability to establish and/or run social enterprises that maximize the opportunities that ICTs provide. This paper looks at a social enterprise that seeks to connect underserved young Nigerians to ICT opportunities while also

Making the New Economy Grow: An Action Agenda (2000). A New Economy Task Force Report, July 19, 2000. Progressive Policy Institute 2 United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report (2001). Obtained from http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2001/en/pdf/pr1.pdf. Last accessed on July 5, 2007 3 Culled from http://www.ashoka.org/social_entrepreneur. Last accessed on January 8, 2009

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20 promoting socio-economic growth in communities that could have otherwise had no such opportunity. The social enterprise, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), addresses concerns about the ill effects of unemployment and cybercrime, among other vices that limit the potential contribution of young Nigerians to the nations economy. Like many other social enterprises that value the role of collaboration, PIN has worked with government establishments, civil society organizations, private institutions and international organizations including United Nations agencies. PIN, a non-profit social enterprise, delivers projects that leverage ICT tools and they include: a project that is helping transform Nigerias most notorious slum ( Ajegunle.org); a social campaign that addresses the ills of cybercrime and seeks to redirect the energy of young Nigerians towards positive engagements ( The Alternative, or the Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria ); and a planned ICT Reality TV Show (Dare to be BIG). This paper will discuss two of the social interventions, Ajegunle.org and The Alternative.

Ajegunle.org Using new technologies for development is not new; neither is the act of building capacity towards entrepreneurship or career development. What PIN has done is to bring together these two developmental elements and we also introduced two principles (positive peer pressure and relay training) that guide its delivery model in a project aimed at the communities others have tagged too poor for socio-economic opportunities. With a vision of a new Ajegunle, transformed through the application of Information Communications Technology and Entrepreneurship opportunities; creating role models that will drive socio-economic development in the underserved community , the overall objective of Ajegunle.org is to create better livelihoods through ICT opportunities, entrepreneurship training and short-term internships. The business idea involves friendly-entry capacity building exercise that trains 25 young people every quarter, who are then equipped with an internship opportunity before starting their own businesses a percentage of which comes back to the project as income.

Unemployment keeps rising in Nigeria because of the continued dependence on existing jobs and lack of opportunities for underserved youth. The height of the vicious cycle is revealed in the fact

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20 that each year, only 10% of college graduates are able to get decent jobs4. This project model envisages a high rate of project replication across (and beyond) Nigeria and involves the training of entrepreneurs/self-sustaining youth alongside the the development of a community innovation centre that will support youth and generate revenue from available services provided to the community. Each trainee is also required to train a minimum of 5 second-level students, which will create a relay training model based on a train-the-trainer and positive peer pressure paradigms. Selected youth are equipped with ICT and Entrepreneurship skills and they are required to pass on some knowledge to other youth in their community, along with starting their own business after short-term internships. The curriculum was developed based on feedback received from a 2-month baseline study conducted by PIN in the pilot target community.

The baseline study, conducted between May and July 2007, evaluated questionnaires from 242 respondents in the target community. The average age of respondents was 15, with a gender ratio of 1:1 (123 males and 119 females). With a spread of occupations between 23 artisans, 24 undergraduates, 41 primary school students, 79 high school students, 39 non-specific students, 23 students in transition between high school and university, and 10 with no stated occupation; the study revealed a 9% PC ownership rate, 44% computer literacy level, 100% with ICT learning challenges, 94% acknowledgement of ICT application importance and 87% with high expectations for ICT/Entrepreneurship training opportunities. Ajegunle's population of 3 million has a youth percentage in the majority5. With the extremely high unemployment rate, low entry barrier for the initiative and the opportunity to demonstrate the possibility of the model through Ajegunle, the idea was too exciting to be left unattended. Following ongoing project review, the implementation idea now includes a corresponding social campaign against cybercrime.

The project has run two training sessions to date, with a few of the graduates stories worthy of note. Famous, like many other young people in Nigeria's most popular slum, was not sure of what tomorrow held for him. Now, he works at the Visa Section of the British High Commission in Abuja thanks to his participation in the Ajegunle.org project. Funke, another project participant, grew her
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Obadan, M. & Odusola, A. Productivity and Unemployment in Nigeria. Retrieved from the internet, http://www.cenbank.org/OUT/PUBLICATIONS/OCCASIONALPAPERS/RD/2000/ABE-00-10.PDF. Last accessed on January 14, 2009 5 Aderinkomi, S. An Ageing Population and Environmental Degradation . Retrieved from the internet, http://www.bris.ac.uk/sps/papers/stream5/aderinkomi.doc. Last accessed on January 14, 2009

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20 business of N2,000 by over 2,000% after the training. Outside changing the lives of the trained youth through partnerships with institutions such as Afrinvest West Africa, DHL Nigeria, FATE Foundation, Junior Achievement of Nigeria, Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion, London Metropolitan University (Nigeria Office), Lornamead Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, UK High Commission, UK Trade & Investment, Uncommon Man Network and others, the project is also helping to change the perception of the Ajegunle community as shown through the inclusion of the projects details on the popular Wikipedia website and internet search results. The expected outcomes of the Ajegunle.org project include 500 first-level graduates in each community over a period of 5 years. The project offers direct benefits to young people in Ajegunle (and other communities where project is replicated), and will provide affordable and relevant ICT services to the community through the innovation centre. The impact of these outcomes will be measured through the number of businesses started by trainees (or number of full-time employments achieved for those who choose to stay within their internship locations), the total number of project beneficiaries, the sustainability of the established innovation centre, the amount of money earned from 10% returns from trainees and the number of positive news items on the project.

The Alternative

The concern for internet safety is a global phenomenon, especially as those who never had access are increasingly being connected through their computers, mobile phones and other devices. While the prevalence of social networking websites, online communities and internet-enabled processes should be great news for individual, corporate and government users, the concern for safety remains a major source of concern. A 2007 Internet Crime report listed Nigeria as number three on the list of the worlds top ten online crime spots; and the prevalence of cybercrime among a sizeable number of young Nigerians goes to show the need for immediate concern, especially with the recent boom in mobile service provision and online payment platforms in Nigeria. The Alternative (also known as the Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria ) is a social campaign that considers the prevailing challenges, identifies the need for focused intervention, and proposes a strategy to kick-start the process of addressing Internet Safety issues in Nigeria.

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20 Built on a partnership between PIN (implementing partner) and Microsoft Nigeria (sponsor) and others the campaign is set to deliver on three key objectives: sensitization workshops across Nigeria (having covered Anambra, Lagos, Ondo and Sokoto states in 2008); a one-day event that will draw attention to the issue of internet safety while also providing a platform for stakeholders to work together; and a follow up project that will rehabilitate 25 at-risk youth involved in cybercrime. Over the 2-month period from August through September 2008, PIN hosted campaign activities across four states in Nigeria. In Anambra state, over 100 students gathered in the capital city to discuss the ills of cybercrime and what young people should be doing on the internet. The Niger state campaign was supported by the state government and this was obvious in their high-level preparation which included the mobilization of over 400 students, youth and adults who attended the workshop in Minna. The Lagos campaign was coordinated by a group of volunteers. Following PINs call for applications for ISSPIN ambassadors, they were selected alongside nineteen other young people from 10 other states in Nigeria. The 24 ambassadors have since commenced work among their peers by spreading word about the campaign, and they now work directly with PIN to carry on the message of youth energy redirection until the third quarter of 2009. The Lagos campaign involved numerous activities including visits to secondary schools and campuses across Lagos state, from which over 700 students showed interest in attending the campaigns one -day event at one of the citys most popular event venue among young people. With over 1,000 youths and professionals in attendance, the event used popular culture to appeal to youth while keeping the core message of internet safety. PIN also made a call for essays on the topic, Curbing Cybercrime in Nigeria and entries came in from over 20 cities across Nigeria. The story from this campaign has been used across various local and global media outlets, including NetworkWorld.com, CIO.com, CIOPakistan.com, ITNewsAfrica.com, Computerworld Kenya, PC World - USA, Littlefish IT Support, Tech News Review Australia, and Lala News. In her closing statement, the Citizenship Manager of Microsoft Nigeria said: A country that is hitherto associated with negativity in the cyber world is now grabbing the attention of the whole world as the exporter of a very daring solution that puts the youth at its centre. I am very happy to note that the proverbial journey of a thousand miles has started for us with this single step and we will nurture and watch it grow. Microsoft and its partners will continue to support the process and encourage all stakeholders to work together in our quest to attain the national vision of making Nigeria into an IT

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20 enabled, just and prosperous society . The campaign continues with various efforts such as the production of stickers that use youth-friendly messages to describe new attitudes that youth should embrace, a musical collaboration that has become popular among entertainment professionals (including award-winning producers, directors and musicians), the nationwide distribution of free CDs containing Microsofts Digital Literacy Curriculum, and the rehabilitation project that will help 25 at-risk youth through a process involving application, selection, retraining, mentorship, internship opportunity and possible business support.

Conclusion As a social entrepreneur whose primary focus is on the improvement of livelihoods in communities that would have otherwise had no such opportunities, I believe that the role that ICTs play is central in the realization of this objective. In PINs work, we have seen how ICT literacy helps to improve human capital in underserved communities, leading to better chances of improved livelihoods. However, challenges such as the low density of ICT tools such as personal computers keep many youth (and others) in developing countries on the unfair side of the digital divide. However, there is probably some good news in the sustained increase in the number of mobile phones in the global South. Africa, for example, has over 300 mobile phone users6 compared to the mere (estimated) 10 million that have access to computers7. Access to the internet, mostly through shared terminals, is even much less than the number of mobile phone users. There are only about 51 million internet users8. Mobile platforms may offer a key opportunity for Africa, and PIN is already exploring the possibilities through two projects: the West Africa 2.0 concept (in partnership with the International Centre for New Media) and Text The Word, a business model that will allow students have access to information at much cheaper rates through even the most simple mobile phone. ICTs provide a unique opportunity to connect the bottom 70% with unique opportunities, and social entrepreneurs are busy seeking new models that can make this sustainable, easily replicable and beneficial to all stakeholders.
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Culled from www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/newslog/Africa+Has+300+Million+Mobile+Phone+Subscribers.aspx. Last accessed on December 14, 2008 7 Culled from Wall Street Journal news report, http://www.online.wsj.com/article/SB122332198757908625.html. Last accessed on January 14, 2009 8 Internet Usage Statistics for Africa (June 2008). Culled from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm. Last accessed on November 1, 2008

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20

Fig 1: Ajegunle.org graduates with PIN ED and project partners

Fig 2: ICT training for Ajegunle.org trainees at the rented resource centre

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No

EWB-UK Research Conference 2009 Hosted by The Royal Academy of Engineering February 20

Fig 3: The Alternative volunteer training secondary school students

Fig 4: Campaign ambassadors discussing with journalists on October 25

Community of Practice: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Author: Gbenga Sesan (www.gbengasesan.com) Institution: Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Previously published: No