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Existing
Songhai staff will be trained to run the Centers, where services
will be free, initially, or subsidized to familiarize clients
with what is offered. After three months, a fee-for-services
structure will be developed to ensure sustainability.
As
Father Nzamujo has recognized, the computer networking service
centers are the most effective, efficient and practical way
to extend the Songhai experience to many more people in Benin
and throughout Africa. As such, they exemplify Songhai’s
larger approach to development: integrating carefully selected
methods, processes, techniques, inventions and ideas from
the modern era with traditional economic, cultural and environmental
systems — in other words, restructuring reality for the
better while keeping the roots intact.
Money
is Like Water
Commenting on African development in general, Father Nzamujo
has
observed that: Money is like water. If the soil is sandy,
it runs away. The world has watered African society with money,
and it has eroded the society. No one has invested in the
absorptive capacity.
The Community Networking Service Centers (CNSC) project at
Songhai is expected to provide communication, education and
life-long learning opportunities within Benin and help build
internet access in Africa. As such, the initiative will strengthen
Songhai’s capacity to promote an African driven model
of development, extend the Songhai vision for sustainable
development, and, as Father Nzamujo would agree, invest directly
in Africa’s absorptive capacity.
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