Freecom (Pty) Ltd.

completed

The project is to establish Freecom, a company that will focus on providing information technology (IT) solutions to the lower/middle income, first-time buyer, end of the PC market. The objective will be to make IT solutions affordable and accessible to the larger part of the market that is presently excluded on the basis of price, rapid obsolescence, and difficulty of use. This sector is a cause of global concern as the “digital divide” – the gap between technologically enabled countries and the developing country “have nots” – widens, as technology advances.The company will provide personnel computer solutions, based on refurbished used computers retired from corporates due to incompatibility with the latest software. These refurbished PC’s will be bundled with smart software which offers full functionality to the first-time, home or student user, while requiring less computer resources (memory, processor speed), compared to latest windows based software. The bundle provides an affordable solution to first time buyers that will be backed by after sales support and training, not normally available to buyers of used equipment.Freecom will be based in Cape Town, South Africa, but plans to establish distribution points in all the major centres. Future plans include distribution in neighbouring African countries.IFC has played an advisory role in helping to structure the project. IFC has also played an important catalytic role in facilitating the participation of other financiers, in this case the IDC, which have been encouraged to invest based on IFC interest in the project. Limited long term financing is available in South Africa for start-up ventures of this type. IFC participation is key to completing the financing structure. IFC participation in the project is motivated by the positive impact the project can make on helping to reduce the digital divide by making appropriate and affordable technology available to sectors of the population which currently do not have access to PCs.