America.gov asked finalists from among the more than 700 African immigrants who submitted business plans to the “African Diaspora Marketplace” to blog about their ideas. Sponsored by USAID and Western Union Company, the African Diaspora Marketplace is a contest that will award seed money to approximately 15 winners to help them bring their ideas to life in their home countries.

KOBBINA AWUAH, entrepreneur:

The local primary school student (pictured with me) was one of the first visitors to a computer center I helped to establish for a non-governmental project in Bimbila, Ghana. Like most African youth, he possessed an eagerness to use the facility. It was one more proof that my business venture – Peak INFOTEK, a publishing and IT firm – is badly needed. My company aims to establish state-of-the-art computer labs and learning centers for faculty and students at Ghanaian universities. The labs and centers will be equipped with PCs connected to the Internet, educational software programs, printers and copiers. Registered users will be able to use some services via a dedicated website in their homes or dorms.

In 2007, while conducting research at Ghanaian universities on IT services, I realized that they have been lagging. The universities lack computer centers with Internet access, and students frequently have to wait in long lines to have access to copiers and printers, which are often located in the open.

I have put together a strong management team in Ghana. They have since conducted extensive market studies, which have enabled Peak INFOTEK to develop several innovative solutions. We will be launching our first IT facility in Kumasi in February 2010.

HERMAN NYAMUNGA, business expert:

This is a good business venture with potential to improve learning through exchange of ideas, research, and increased communication. Students will be able to access external resources to help in research and other academic projects. Most students in Africa lag behind in studies due to lack of access to quality learning resources. This facility will help to ease that problem. It will provide the students with unlimited Internet access for research and allow them to print and present their class work. Faxes will facilitate faster transmission of documents. Copiers, which are critical at African universities, will increase access to textbooks whose numbers are limited.

Universities could also use Peak InfoTek computer centers to offer online classes to reduce classroom congestion.

The challenges I see with this business model include the issue of affordability: are there enough people who can afford the venture’s services to generate a profit? Another challenge is that many students in Africa are not computer literate, so in order to increase access, you must deal with that problem too.

IMRAN QIDWAI, business expert:

As we all know, the Internet has significantly changed human lives in the past 15 years. However, it is unfortunate that large numbers of people in the developing world still lack access to computers. Anything that can help speed up and ease the access to computing resources will be phenomenal in helping the university students reach their potential.

One key to long-term success will be to make these centers sustainable, with locals trained to maintain the systems in fully operational optimum conditions. The long-term strategy should also include plans to take similar computer access and education to primary and secondary schools, so that children can start learning computer skills earlier to take advantage of the wealth of information available on the Internet.