ICTworks by Inveneo

The Kenya ICT Board and Kenya's Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) are about to launch a bold experiment in getting the tools of ICT into the hands of tomorrow's leaders in Kenya. They're going to subsidize laptops for 15,667 university students through the Wezesha program.

Wezesha will provide 9,000 Kenya Shillings (KES) equivalent to USD 120 towards purchasing a laptop for university students.

There are two models of laptops sold by five pre-qualified retailers. The $120 subsidy will reduce the laptop price by 15% and 33%, depending on the laptop model. This is a fixed incentive - it will pay for only a portion of the laptop, regardless of the specifications and price.

The Wezesha project is open to all Kenyan university students in accredited University in Kenya (public and private) that expressed interest in Wezesha.

Here's the process by which students can get their subsidized laptops:

1. Wezesha portal - University student browses
2. University student registers on the Wezesha portal
3. University Coordinator verifies and approves University students registration online
4. Student receives voucher via email
5. Student logs on to the Wezesha portal and selects preferred laptop
6. Information is displayed on preferred laptop. Price of laptop less voucher amount is displayed
7. Students selects preferred laptop and inputs voucher information
8. Retailer gets notification of intent of purchase of laptop.
9. Student goes to buy preferred laptop from retailer
10. Voucher and student information verified at point of sale by the retailer in the presence of the student
11. Student provides voucher and balance to redeem laptop
12. The student becomes the owner of a brand new laptop

Wezesha's Impact on Kenya

What do you think 15 thousand laptop-enabled college students will do for Kenya's higher education system? Or for the African Internet culture? No doubt it will have a big impact on future ICT usage in Kenya.

Immediately, I can see a huge boost in Facebook's impact on Kenyan society in the midst of an intensified mobile data price war. I can also see these connected college students creating an explosion in Kenyan conversations online.

Last but not least, Wezesha is the 4th reason why Kenya has better Internet business opportunities than Nigeria.