E-Artifacts

If selected as a winner I would use the Elevate Prize funding to scale up substantially and impact more people in underserved rural areas. I would have the means and the guidance to bring proper equipment and connectivity to that population.  Elevate Prize is well known for tackling the world’s biggest problems by finding purpose-driven leaders all around the world and provide them with resources that support their growth. The main theme here is "Make GOOD famous", which my team and I fiercely believe in. Besides the prize funding, we're looking for accessing the powerful network of partners, executives, and decision-makers that can substantially increase our impact.

I'm Nshuti Chris Kagabe, 22 years old I'm from Rwanda. I was doing engineering studies in Belgium just before the Covid-19 outbreak. I moved back to Rwanda recently and realized that the region has a lot of potential but they just lack access to connectivity and equipment. Many Rwandans want to go abroad to study and eventually work there but they don't realize they can do so much for themselves without moving away. They simply need access to reliable equipment and connectivity to increase their livelihoods. The post covid world has shown us that it's actually really feasible to use digital tools to empower us individually.

As a woman who was born and raised in Rwanda, I have witnessed the shift in the development of my country from analog to digital as much as the gap is still huge. I am KABIBI Ingabire Kenny, a finalist at the African Leadership University doing Global challenges as my major. With the growth of the 4th industrial revolution and the centralization of technology in all the fields of work, it is crucial for Rwanda to move along with other nations. And with the foreign direct investment growth in Rwanda, it is imperative to connect the unconnected and move collectively as a whole. 

We are E-Artifacts. The open secret within the electronics industry is that it’s very difficult to recycle e-waste. Therefore, electronics end up in landfills, toxic substances leach into the soil and water creating irreversible damage in ecosystems. Every year, the world now generates approximately 50 million tonnes of e-waste per year of which only about 20% is formally recycled. Most of those e-waste end up in a village in China or a slum in Ghana. But we believe that people should have a choice to stop this from happening or even better to learn how to re-use the still salvageable electronics components. E-Artifacts give the opportunity to underserved rural populations on the African continent to re-use the e-waste and repurpose them for their own economic empowerment and development. We collect the e-waste from the local population and receive donations of unused devices like portable personal computers and tablets. Next, we simply distribute the devices to the rural populations. The distribution package would include recycled and refurbished devices. In addition to that, we will give people located in remote parts to have access to reliable and affordable connectivity. We would partner up with internet providers that are capable of serving those areas (low-latency satellite internet providers i.e Starlink, OneWeb). The package will be available following the subscription model to make the experience more affordable. They will access information, have the skills and the tools to empower them socially and economically. We aim to target 70% of women with our offerings in order to increase social equity and we believe households will benefit more from this.

The goal here will be to decrease the cost of accessing proper equipment as much as possible. Additionally, we'll provide fixed wireless internet to solve the connectivity part. The said fixed wireless internet will be sent from a location (in a 10 miles range) that has access to either cable internet or low latency satellite internet service. The users will only have to install an antenna on their roof. We'll provide proper guidance throughout the minimal installation process and the internet bill we'll be split between the community and our organization. Moreover, 

Provide low-income, remote, and refugee communities access to digital infrastructure and safe, affordable internet.

Regarding the users of the solution, they will most likely be composed of at least 70% of women with low income and coming from underserved communities throughout Africa as they have less access to technology than men due to cultural beliefs. Furthermore, the kind of evidence that'd be useful to get acquainted with them will surely be coming from reports from non-profit organizations. In addition to that, on-site observations and interviews in the regional language can be conducted as well. Depending on the evidence and qualitative data gathered, we'll employ data-driven and gap analysis to get quantitative data. We'll also look for information that questions our assumptions: "Do they need more equipment or more connectivity?", "Why they wouldn't use used electronics?", "Will the usage be for economic empowerment & education or more for leisure activities?", "Is the use of recycled E-waste bother them, is there any other alternative?", etc.

In today's world, it is crucial to have access to real-time information. We'll provide the necessary to achieve that but also include electronic equipment that can help them in their everyday lives such as cheap micro-controllers that can be used in agriculture.