MSE Development Project Ethiopia GTZ 19982005

1
MSE Development Project Ethiopia (GTZ) 1998-2005

• Impact and Sustainability of ICT based Business
  Development Services
• Example of BDS-Portal Ethiopiawww.bds-ethiopia.ne
  t
• Dieter Gagel, mail_at_gagel.net
• MSE Development Project
• Addis Ababa, April 2005

2
Business Development Services, Networking and
Learning Platform

• 30 national Partner Organizations with 500
  trained BDS Facilitators supporting about 9.000
  micro and small enterprises per year.
• Partner Organizations joint in the Ethiopian BDS
  Network for coordination and experience exchange.
• Internet BDS Portal www.bds-ethiopia.net.
  Information and Learning Platform

3
(No Transcript)
4
Business Information Services

• Business Information Services
• Business Planning, Marketing, Trade Fairs,
  Import-Export, Supply, Tenders, Accounting and
  Cost calculation, Improve your Business
  Association, Standards and Quality, Taxation,
  Laws and Regulations, Start and Improve your
  Business
• Presentation of Partner Organizations and BDS
  providers
• Finance Loan conditions of MFI and Banks
• Sector-specific Info on Textile, Garment,
  Leather, Food processing and Construction
• Strategies on Private Sector Development, BDS,
  Capacity Building and Networking, BDS Success
  Stories, Lessons learnt
• Library/Download Sector studies,
  Entrepreneurship training, PRSP, Gender, Activity
  and Impact Monitoring

5
Target Groups

• Target Groups are intermediaries like business
  consultants and advisors, members of the BDS
  network, donors and not the business owners
  because latter do rarely use Internet.
• Information is trickled down to the enterprise
  level by business advisors and BDS facilitators
  when supporting the enterprises.

6
Media Mix Internet CD-ROM - Printmedia

• Because of limited use of Internet by business
  owners, Webpage is copied all 6 months on CD-ROM
  and distributed to BDS facilitators and partners
  using information on enterprise level.
• Information on Taxation, Marketing, Business
  Planning, Accounting, Cost calculation,
  Import-Export, Trade Fairs etc. has been printed
  and sold via Ethiopian bookshops.
• For business consultancy specific information
  like Business Plans und Loan Application Forms
  are printed by office printers.

7
Monthly e-mail based BDS Newsletter

• A monthly e-mail based BDS News-letter is
  sent to more than 470 adressees (Ethiopia and
  abroad), gives regularly BDS Information and
  rembers the BDS Webpage.

8
Outreach and Impact

• 500 BDS facilitators (2005) using regularly the
  BDS Portal plus 12.000 visitors per month from
  Ethiopia (50) and abroad (50).
• External evaluation results 71 of BDS
  facilitators using the BDS Portal information
  services, especially Accounting, Cost
  calculation, Cash books, Financial plan, Business
  Plan, Loan Conditions of MFI / Banks.
• 67 of supported and interviewed businesses have
  increased turnover, income and employment (impact
  of BDS including the Portal).

9
Sustainability

• The BDS Portal has been taken over by the
  Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce, financing the
  update via advertising companies on its own
  webpage (web pages developed by GTZ project
  www.ethiopian chamber.com and www.adamachamber.com
  ).
• BDS Portal is based on simple web code and can
  easily be updated by former project secretary,
  now employed by the Chamber and financed by
  advertising companies on webpage.
• Contents are updated by feed back of Network
  members.

10
Lessons Learnt

• Efficient Internet BDS Portals must be based on
  concrete BDS structures on the ground and
  business advisors using information in daily
  business consultancy work on enterprise level.
• Direct target groups are not business owners
  (with less Internet use) but intermediaries like
  business consultants, BDS facilitators, partners
  and donors.
• By Media mix of Internet, CD-ROM, Printed
  Handbooks and sales in bookshops, information
  via intermediaries trickles down to enterprise
  level and the whole country.
• Produce webpage with simple html code that can
  easily be updated by local low-cost personal and
  partners.