evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Kitsong Centres – Rural Community Telecentre Network (Botswana)

Botswana · Letlhakeng · See the Botswana profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 82% 52/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2004, Botswana's Kitsong Centres have grown from 3 pilot telecentres to 110 villages nationwide, delivering internet access, training and mobile money via a government-Mascom partnership; independent evaluation remains limited.

3 telecentres
Pilot telecentres launched (2004)
41 villages
Villages covered under PPP scale-up (2009)
81 centres
Centres operating (January 2015)
20 million Pula (approx. USD 2 million)
Cumulative Mascom investment (by January 2015)
110 centres in 110 villages
Centres in villages nationwide (May 2018)
11 centres
Centres handed to local entrepreneurs (May 2018)
~12 %
Rural electrification rate (n/a)
5.84 USD per GB
Mobile data cost (n/a)
Kitsong Centres – Rural Community Telecentre Network (Botswana)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Government of Botswana & Mascom Wireless (Nteletsa II PPP)
Period
2004-ongoing
Keywords
rural connectivity, telecentres, public-private partnership, digital access

Context

Rural Botswana faces persistent digital-access barriers: around 12% rural electrification and mobile data costs of roughly USD 5.84 per GB, both of which constrain any connectivity model reliant on continuous power and affordable data.

Objectives

To extend shared internet, email and locally relevant digital services to villages without connectivity through a telecentre model, and — from 2018 — to transition individual centres into locally-run small businesses.

Activities

The Botswana Technology Centre (BOTEC), a government science-and-technology parastatal, piloted three Community User Information System telecentres in Letlhakeng, Hukuntsi and Gumare in 2004. From 2009, a public-private partnership between the Government of Botswana and Mascom Wireless, delivered under the Nteletsa II Rural Telecommunications Development Programme, scaled the network to 41 villages, reaching 81 centres by January 2015 (with Mascom reporting cumulative investment of over 20 million Pula, about USD 2 million) and 110 centres in 110 villages by May 2018, when Mascom handed 11 additional centres to local entrepreneurs — predominantly women — to run independently, offering internet access, computer training, mobile money and printing services.

Results

The network grew from 3 pilot telecentres in 2004 to 110 centres in 110 villages by 2018, with an entrepreneur-handover model transferring at least 11 centres to independently-run, predominantly women-led small businesses; no participant-level outcome data (e.g. digital-skills gains, income effects) was found.

Conclusions

The evidence base has real limits: a Paradigm Initiative digital-rights report attributes the centres' founding to a different year and organisation (Botswana Post, 2010) than the BOTEC/Mascom accounts — an unresolved discrepancy — and no independent academic or multilateral evaluation of outcomes was found; reported figures come chiefly from Mascom and Botswana's state press agency. Low rural electrification (~12%) and high mobile data costs (~USD 5.84/GB) also pose ongoing sustainability risks.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Mascom reports cumulative investment of over 20 million Pula (approximately USD 2 million) by January 2015; total programme cost including government/BOTEC contributions is not disclosed in available sources.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Piloted in 2004; scaled nationally under PPP from 2009; reached 110 villages by May 2018; the page lists the programme as ongoing (2004–ongoing), a 20+ year continuous initiative.
Staffing & skills
Piloted by the Botswana Technology Centre (BOTEC), a government science-and-technology parastatal, Scaled through a public-private partnership with Mascom Wireless under the Nteletsa II programme, Since 2018, at least 11 centres are run independently by local entrepreneurs, predominantly women

Conditions for success

  • Phased scale-up (3 pilot sites → 41 → 81 → 110 villages) allowed testing before national rollout
  • Transition of some centres to local entrepreneur ownership from 2018 aimed at longer-term financial sustainability

Common failure modes

  • Rural electrification of only around 12% threatens continuous operation of centres reliant on stable power
  • Mobile data costs of roughly USD 5.84/GB constrain affordability of connectivity services
  • Conflicting accounts of the founding year/organisation (BOTEC/Mascom vs. a Paradigm Initiative report crediting Botswana Post, 2010) and the absence of independent evaluation undermine confidence in reported impact

Where it fits

Governance type
public-private partnership (government + telecom operator), transitioning toward local entrepreneurship
Scale
national rural network (110 villages)
Income level
lower-middle income (Botswana)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful

★ 48

Gewog Community Centres (CCs)

Bhutan

Bhutan built 182 of a planned 205 rural gewog Community Centres offering broadband, e-government and basic computer services, but 2014 …