MCT pilot projects

Timbuktu, Mali

The story we are about to tell you is a true one: it was heard of and took place in Timbuktu. It is the story of a young Moorish blacksmith from “the mysterious city” who told a visitor from his remote village, “I will send you a message by e-mail”. And indeed, he can now do so, thanks to Timbuktu’s multipurpose community telecentre (MCT) — a pilot project launched in 1997. Timbuktu, which is the “gateway to the desert” and considered the “end of the world”, has quite simply become a part of that world.

Timbuktu’s MCT belongs to the community, which was deeply involved in its establishment. As its name indicates, the MCT offers a multitude of services: Internet, e-mail, software installation, scanner, word processing, colour printing, Web page hosting, telephone/fax, photocopying, maintenance and repairs (see chart).

The Internet is the main product. An invaluable tool for information searching, trade and communication, the Internet has brought the whole world into a network and has become commonplace in Timbuktu, where the young Moorish blacksmith readily compares it to one of the traditional tools of his trade. “It is just a working and communication tool that looks sophisticated but is easy to use”, he says.

The MCT connects the town of Timbuktu, which is sandwiched between the Issa Ber River and the sand dunes of the desert, with the rest of the world. Timbuktu’s inhabitants now have access to all the services available on the Net (electronic messaging, file transfer, database consultation, etc.). What the inhabitants ultimately expect is that the MCT will promote the local development of, among other things, tourism and crafts, agriculture, livestock-breeding and fishing, industry, teaching, culture and medicine (telemedicine).

The main areas covered by the MCT evaluation relate to the centre’s sustainability and its capacity to provide social and economic benefits to the community in the best possible conditions.

Since its launch, the MCT has gone through a number of phases, acquiring experience and encountering obstacles along the way. Multipurpose telecentres are a new form of community institution in Africa in general, and in Mali in particular. Urban and rural communities alike have pinned their hopes on them. Those involved — the project implementing team, the operators, the people and businesses that will benefit — are all firm believers in the telecentre and anticipate that in the short and long term it will have a positive impact on their lives and means of survival.

Excerpt adapted from the foreword to the final report on the evaluation of the multipurpose community telecentre in Timbuktu, carried out by the International Development Research Centre.

International partners in the Timbuktu project are ITU, IDRC, UNESCO, FAO and WHO. National partners include Societé des Télécommunications du Mali (SOTELMA), the country’s telecommunications operator, the national commission for UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The local community raised USD 30 000 as a contribution for the construction of the MCT building, which was inaugurated in June 2001. ITU procured information technology equipment for the MCT. This has been installed and is functioning satisfactorily. Mali’s former President, Alpha Oumar Konaré, visited the MCT at the end of March 2002.

A baseline study conducted in May 1999 by the PACT Institute, an NGO based in Washington, DC, examined the information uses and needs of Timbuktu using a mixture of household surveys, user questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. Several libraries in Timbuktu will benefit from the new services of the telecentre.

Key beneficiaries include the famous Centre Ahmed Baba Library with its precious collection of books and documentation, regularly visited by national and international researchers, as well as tourists; and the library of the Mahamane Alassane Haidara Lyceum, visited daily by about 300 students. Similarly, the various lyceums and medersas and the new Lycée Technique Agricole at Niafunke stand to gain from support provided through the MCT in basic and advanced computer-literacy training, maintaining and updating educational curricula in electronic format, teacher training, Internet-based communications and access to information for both teachers and students.

Another major emphasis of the telecentre is to provide training to artisans to set up websites in order to sell their handicrafts. The telecentre has proved to be particularly useful to tour operators organizing visits to a place as rich in culture as Timbuktu. There are plans to digitize the collection in the local museum and the manuscripts in the Centre Ahmed Baba Library.

The telecentre also operates a small radio broadcasting station and produces its own programmes.

Run by technical staff, the telecentre is overseen by a steering committee, which includes the mayor, business people, artisans, librarians, health workers, women’s associations and other members of the community. Prices for services are set by the steering committee. There are also special discounts for women and children.

FAO plans to use the telecentre as a local base for its development work. This project will link to the Rural Community Radio and the FAO World Agricultural Information Centre.

Both SOTELMA and ITU/BDT have agreed to extend the project through September 2002. The DOMSAT link between Timbuktu and Bamako will be upgraded to handle a leased 64 kbit/s line to the MCT. This should result in better quality of services and a more sustainable project.

A major objective is to transfer the project to community ownership at the end of the pilot phase.