Rural telecentres lack sustainability - need to address content, social appropriation and scale up

CTA's Koda Traoré introduces lessons from the TelecentresAfrica project of CTA. The unsustainability of rural telecentres emerges from the telecentres' lack of appropriate content, lack of diversified services, and insufficient social 'appropriation' of the telecentre services by the local communities. He also highlights the need for scaling up strategies and business models, moving beyond pilots and short-term donor funding.



[He then] introduces the three priorities that CTA will follow to support rural telecentres in Africa: First, capacity strengthening to manage telecentres. Second, sensitize ICT policy planners regarding the important role of telecentres. Third, support existing telecentres to become more sustainable




Interview by Peter Ballantyne, June 2009