Village Phone A Tool for Women s Empowerment

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1 Village Phone A Tool for Women s Empowerment Microfinance and Information and Communication Technology David Keogh Grameen Foundation USA Grameen Technology Center Working to eliminate poverty by leveraging the power of microcredit and technology 1

2 Grameen Bank Began in million borrowers 95.7% women members Member owned & profitable Over 98.9% rate of recovery Over $4.7 billion loaned 10,000 families cross poverty line each month Replicated in 40+ countries reaching an additional 1 million poor Focus on the poorest Works predominantly with women Sustainable Self Help not charity Dr. Muhammad Yunus Founder of the Grameen Bank 2

3 Grameen Foundation USA Our Mission is to empower the world's poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty with dignity through access to financial services and to information. Grameen Technology Center The Grameen Technology Center is working to eliminate poverty by leveraging the power of microcredit and technology. 3

4 What is Village Phone? Affordable access for poor rural people to telecommunications services through an innovative, sustainable business model in a hybrid private / public partnership with the microfinance sector and the telecommunications sector 4

5 A Village Phone Business Operators receive: Mobile phone Antenna Phone charging solution Cables Airtime cards Signage & business cards Manuals & training 5

6 Everyone Wins Governments In support of telecommunications universal access, poverty alleviation, health and education policies and strategies Telecommunications Operator Discounted airtime rates but higher call volumes Public access requirements Social responsibility Village Phone Company Covers costs to sustain and extend operations Microfinance Institutions Viable businesses generate loan income MFIs earn % on sale of pre-paid airtime cards Incentive scheme for MFI loan officers Village Phone Operators Healthy retail margin for Operators Net monthly revenue potential in excess of $31 Local Communities Affordable telecommunications for rural poor Village Phone Operators will be able to offer fair fixed rates to their community 6

7 Village Phone - Testimonial Hon. John Nasasira, Minster of Works, Housing and Communication, Government of Uganda The village phone is unique in that it ties in some credit through microfinance institutions and therefore [enables] the rural poor, especially women, to enter this venture.mtn villagephone [a partnership between MTN and Grameen Foundation] is fulfilling the Governments vision for rural communication We support this initiative very much because anything that can make the rural people communicate is definitely supported 7

8 Grameen Village Phone in Bangladesh Launched in March 1997 Goal: To bring phone service to rural villages Loans made to enable purchase of mobile phones Operators act as a community phone/public call office Access to information quickly for villages New weapon against poverty Child speaking with his father overseas 8

9 Grameen Village Phone Results Extended phone service to over 100 million people Over 100,000 Village Phone Ladies (02/2005) Increase in social status of women Enhanced productivity for villagers Decreased impact of middlemen Opportunity cost up to 8x Completely profitable and selfsustaining for all parties Total Operators (Thousands) Oct 2003 Jun- Feb-05 Year 9

10 Village Phone Replication Borrowing from the model pioneered by the Grameen family in Bangladesh, where money is lent to prospective Village Phone Operators (VPOs) by Grameen Bank. Grameen Technology Center is replicating Village Phone in Uganda GFUSA and MTN Uganda have joined as shareholders in a newly created Ugandan company: MTN villagephone 10

11 Village Phone Uganda 11

12 Goals Provide the rural communities of Uganda with affordable and accessible communications services to enable them to break the cycle of poverty (5,000 Village Phone Operators in 5 yrs) Poverty reduction through sustainable business practices Establish a general replication model for the Village Phone program Disseminate this learning to the commercial telecommunications sector and the worldwide development communities so as to establish a global Village Phone movement. 12

13 13 Progress Village Phone Deployment Actual -vs- Plan Nov- 03 Dec- 03 Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul- Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- Jan- 05 Feb- 05 Mar- 05 Plan Actual

14 Village Phone Lady Profile Fatuma Seruwaji Uganda My life was very difficult before this program. But now, I am full of hope every passing day. I believe I will finish the construction of my house, my children will grow stronger and will have education making their lives better than mine Fatuma is 46 years old. She says that life was difficult in spite of the many years of hard work. Every passing day she hoped and prayed that the next day would be a little easier and better. But since acquiring the village phone, her life has never been the same again. She now earns enough money to feed her children. She is now positive about her family s future and she thinks of her children s education as well as being respected in the community and by her husband. She concludes: I am proud of what FOCCAS and Village Phone is doing in my life. 14

15 Village Phone Rwanda Partnership with MTN RwandaCell First 10 Village Phones deployed on April 11 as part of Pilot Phase Susan, Rwanda s First Village Phone Lady 15

16 Possible Countries for Replication Kenya Philippines Ethiopia Malawi Zambia Indonesia Nigeria Ghana Burkina Faso Others 16

17 Leveraging Impact Village Phone works Village Phone creates thousands of women owned and operated technology based enterprises Village Phone leverage is huge One Village Phone serves a community of thousands Village Phone scales for MACRO impact Village Phone is grassroots development Village Phone is sustainable and profitable business for all Village Phone is socially and financially empowering Village Phone leverages existing infrastructure Telecom Infrastructure (Systems and Hardware) Microfinance channel to market Village Phone provides a platform and a linkage for bringing health, education and other domain initiatives to remote poor rural communities: VILLAGE PHONE IS DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE 17

18 Partnership Building an infrastructure requires partnership Financial Support Support to get to: Investment ready Investments - capitalization World Bank is in a unique position to leverage the work done by Grameen and its partners and invest in a worldwide movement to bring ICT to the rural poor in this innovative, proven and sustainable model 18

19 Now is the Time HAJAT MUHEKI AISHA I've been a peasant housewife going to the field daily to dig. But when I got a Village Phone I decided to make sure that l maximize the profits. Now I've left digging, with the profits l can be able to hire casual laborers to do the digging. My husband has seen the change because my children have gone to school and we can afford to buy them ''Pancakes'' each day. I've got many friends that l didn't have before. Now I am a GREAT WOMAN because of my Village Phone Questions? 19