Hey all,

I had a chat with a bank CEO recently who told me that the agency banking regulations require that any agent has direct access to the bank's core banking system - i.e. any transaction with the agent has to be reflected in the bank's core banking system instantly, not a day later or so. This, he says, means that the roll out of agency banking services will take a little longer.

Has anyone on this list looked into this and the technical issues involved? I'm sure that any bank's prudential management requirements would stipulate a very rigorous vetting process for Pasha Centres or any other potential agents.

Have a good day,
Andrea 

On 7 December 2010 10:25, Paul Kukubo <pkukubo@ict.go.ke> wrote:

Listers


Ø  Kenya ICT Board will facilitate the establishment of digital access centers, to be known as Pasha Centres across the country.

Ø  Facilitation will take the following form

o   An Entrepreneurs will obtain a loan from Family Bank for up to a maximum of Kshs 3M to set-up or expand and existing digital access centre.

o   Kenya ICT Board will provide a technical consultant to support the technical set up and management.

o   Branding and communication support in order to manage the Pasha Brand and drive consumer interest and usage.

o   Management of the Pasha Community portal to allow collaboration and knowledge sharing among Pasha managers.

o   Continuous Training and skills development for Pasha Owners.

o   Liaison with public sector and local and international content providers who may want to access the public through the Pasha network.

 

Ø  Pasha Centres will provide a variety of services that could include the following:

o   Internet access, including serving as wifi hotspot providers for the area.

o   Training and educational material provision

o   Mobile and agency banking

o   Other retail services

o   Money transfer services

o   Government services

o   Jobs bureau

o   Supply chain facilitation including assisting retailers and wholesalers with IT needs

o   Technology support centres for the region

o   Tourism support

o   NGO Liaison support

o   Data collection for government, NGOs and private sector

o   Business Process outsourcing and data entry services

 

The Plan

Ø  Monday 24th January 2011, public launch of Pasha Project.

Ø  Target date for first disbursement of loan is 90 days from launch date. The disbursing bank will require 90 days to review applicants and conclude initial loan disbursements.

Ø  Disbursements will be made to entrepreneurs who fulfill agreed conditions and don’t necessarily have to be among those that had received Pasha training prior. Kenya ICT Board in 2009 and 2010 had conducted nationwide 3 week training of 1000 people in business management, entrepreneurship, marketing, basic accounting and technical management (a starter-kit) to prepare potential pasha managers to run Pasha centre.

Ø  The agreement with the bank is to ensure we disburse at least one loan per county within the year. Our eventual target is to have 210 pasha centers, one in each constituency by 2012. We shall asses the appetite and would not be surprised if the demand for loans exceeds our target.

Ø  We shall encourage entrepreneurs to partner with the networks and any other organizations to beef up their business plans in preparation for loan application and to make their businesses more commercially viable.

 

Mechanics of disbursement

All applications will be forwarded to family bank for commercial assessment. Family bank and an committee appointed by the Kenya ICT Board will assess the best loan candidates on a set of agreed criteria and award the loan against this and a sound and verified business plan. We shall be keen to ensure that people don’t push through paper plans for the sake of cash.

More details will be available on www.ict.go.ke and www.pasha .co.ke



Paul Kukubo
Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board
PO Box 27150 - 00100
Nairobi, Kenya

12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange Street

Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960
Fax: +254 20 2211962
website: www.ict.go.ke
local content project: www.tandaa.co.ke, www.facebook.com/tandaakenya
twitter:@tandaaKENYA
BPO Project: www. doitinkenya.co.ke
Digital Villages Project: www.pasha.co.ke


personal contacts
_______________

Cell: + 254 717 180001


skype: kukubopaul
googletalk: pkukubo
personal blog: www.paulkukubo.co.ke
personal twitter: @pkukubo


____________________
Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub

Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment

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