|
Monitoring
and Evaluation for the Africa Market
Total Service Solutions (TSS), a systems
design and engineering company established in 1989 and headquartered
in Washington recently entered the African market with the
launch of its SA office. It intends to use the local operation,
whose MD is Ben Gerber; as its continental base to market
its Web-based monitoring and evaluation (M&E) flagship
product.
Company president John Chandler says its
products are aimed at the likes of medical institutions, transportation
and financial services. The company targets both public and
private sector business, in addition to (EDDI) Education for
Development and Democracy Initiative.
(EDDI), which funds projects aimed at uplifting
the welfare of women and girls in Africa. The EDDI resulted
from an executive level visit to Africa in March 1988, when
American commitment was pledged to strengthen the educational
systems and democratization process of sub-Saharan Africa
through linkages with the US.
At the request of Mali president, Alpha Oumar
Konare, the EDDI was created and is an organized effort among
the Department of State, Peace Corps, and United States Agency
for International Development (USAID). Supporting implementation
roles are played by the Departments of Agriculture, Defense,
Education, Labor, Transportation, and the Environmental Protection
Agency.
Chandler adds that with about 400 projects
in 38 countries on the continent, the institute has been unable
to maintain proper monitoring procedures and in April this
year awarded a contract to TSS to install a customized version
of its monitoring and evaluation system at its premises. Meanwhile,
the company has also partnered with Exegesis, a local company
with experience in the monitoring and evaluation business.
M&E allows a company to capture information
through an online environment, and in turn a firm is able
to use its information to track and monitor the progress of
a project or several projects and determine its status in
accordance with targets that can be set and automated into
the system. This is able to prompt users automatically in
the case of them falling behind deadlines and targets,"
explains Chandler.
The system does automatic validation checks
and communicates to users through SMS. Depending on the needs
of clients, TSS is able to install the system and either administers
it on their behalf or simply train company employees to use
it. Chandler is confident that the system's total cost of
ownership is quickly outweighed by its return on investment,
which, depending on the company, can be realized almost immediately.
Apparently, the company has three other offerings;
the birth, death and marriage system; Bema 2000, its benefit
management system, and multi-media training through CD ROM,
targeted at the BEE sector. The company believes that the
impact for the local market is meaningful in terms of job
creation and skills transfer. This is fairly significant considering
that TSS is a black-owned US company that is committed to
the BEE process locally and wants to use BEE companies to
fulfill its mandate.
EDDI's projects include the following:
· Southern Africa -(EDDI's Desmond Tutu Education Trust)
Between 1998-2001 approximately 6 250 students received work-study
assistance at the five Western Cape tertiary institutions.
· Namibia -(EDDl's Mobile Training Unit) The project
has reached over 1 500 government officials and leaders to
date, in, all 13 administrative regions in Namibia. Regional
officials and civic leaders have been trained in use of the
Parliamentary Web site on the Mobile Training Unit.
· Zambia -(EDDI's Interactive Radio) 7 782 out-of-school
Zambian children receiving radio instruction (basic education)
at 169 community centers at the end of 2001, 21 writing and
production staff at the MOE Education Broadcast Service were
trained in production and program development.
By Kaunda Chama
COMPUTING SA
|
