Grameen Foundation, a global non-profit organization that combines microfinance with new technologies to empower the world's poorest people, and local GSM network operator, MTN RwandaCell, are launching Village Phone Rwanda, an innovative new joint venture.
Through its signature product, Tel'imbere (loosely translated it means using the telephone to go forward), Village Phone Rwanda is bringing affordable telephone access to rural communities where there is no access to communication and where power supplies are unreliable or none Some 50 Rwandans took part in a one-year pilot program which ended in April. The success of one participant, Marie Claire Ayirwanda was typical. A widow with two children, she runs a bar and restaurant. "The phone builds customer loyalty and brings in more people," she says. Village Phone Rwanda resulted in her profits rising by 150 percent and now she is building a new home for herself and her children.
Urwego began its operations in July 1997 as World Relief's microfinance program in Rwanda. The word "urwego" means "ladder for success" in Kinyarwandan. Urwego helped finance the Village Phone trials in Rwanda.
The goal of Village Phone Rwanda is to create 3,000 new businesses throughout the country in three years. A microfinance loan of US$250 to each operator will enable them to purchase a phone kit which includes a handset, SIM card, a booster antenna, car battery and marketing materials.
Source: ANDnetwork .com.
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