Greetings Afrik-ITers!
Menghestab Haile writes:
> Generally bu siness dependent on such organisations (AGRHYMET,
> ICRISAT and NGOs) may not be sustainable. A simple question, what
> happens if the French stop funding AGRHYMET or ICRISAT decides to
> change location to another country? Or the presid ent changes!!!.
Excellent questions.
But what does it matter? If a local businessman in Niamey decides
to provide a full Internet service to these three "unsustainable"
organizations, that's really his decision.
No donor was proposing to give him any money. The proposal that was
discussed but never finalized was to guarantee him perhaps three
years of fees from large organizations in return for the Internet
service.
The proposal was never finalized because no operating license could
be obtained from the Government.
> On this matter I would prefer to go Dr Lisse's way. Start small
> and cheap.
If I were starting a business myself, that is what I would do. In
Malawi, I assisted a small business in starting a small service. I
also assisted a small business in Sierra Leone.
But if three large organizations came to me with a business
proposition that guaranteed me sufficient revenue for a three-year
startup period of Internet service, I would consider it carefully.
Regards,
Jeff @ Botswana
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