The RISE-UP Fund

The Rise-Up Fund for African and Middle Eastern Rural Village Projects

Structure.

  1. The Rise-Up Fund will be incorporated as a trust in ___________.
  1. ___________, a New York corporation, shall be appointed the investment advisorto the fund, with a annual fee of .5% of the funds under management, and an incentive fee of 1% ownership of the investments in the portfolio.
  1. The Rise-Up Board of Directors shall have two public members, and five members elected by the investors
  1. Funding requirements will necessitate commitments of $350 million per year for a period of three years. Thereafter, cash flow from these investments should be sufficient for either reinvestment or dividends.
  1. Debt Leverage. The Rise-Up Fund plans to enter into agreements with the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Commonwealth Investment Corporation (U.K.), and kfw (Germany) to provide 50% of the funds for each investment to which the Fund commits to finance. In this way, the Fund will structure 2 to 1 debt leverage for its investment portfolio.

The Fund’s mission is synchronized with the ITU’s universal service fund precept: Ensuring that telecommunications services are affordably accessible to the widest number of people regardless of where they reside.

The Fund’s mission is to deliver the ITU’s Broadband Commission for Digital Development’s four targets to ensure populations participate in the emerging knowledge society [ICT Development Index]

>         Making Broadband Policy Universal

>         Making Broadband Affordable

>         Connecting Homes to Broadband

>         Getting People Online

  1. Investment Structure. The Fund will invest in each Rural African Village Project and receive the right of first recoupment for both its senior lender and its equity investment. After full recoupment has been achieved, the Fund shall receive 50% of the net after-tax revenues and GDV will receive 50% of the net after-tax revenues. Private investors shall receive dividends, and donor investors will have an account that will reinvest its returns in other GDV projects.

The GDV will contract with each Host Country to deploy and manage its Rural Africa Village Development initiatives in return for an exclusive franchise to execute and deliver all information automation for all local, municipal, provincial and national government offices.

Executing this contract enables the Rise-Up Fund to invest in five GDV Rural African Village Development Initiatives that include:

  • Job Creation / Work Service Contractors – Each work service contractor enterprise will be a party to a national contract, whereby in exchange for a commitment by the Host Country to transfer all information automation (data entry from paper to database records) from each local (village / town), municipal (county), provincial (regional), and national agency office, the Global Digital Village will, at its own cost, deploy and operate a nationwide rural communications solution in the Host Country. Under this Host Country information automation contract, each work service contractor will be responsible for
    • deploying, configuring, and administering computer pools at each school,
    • Structuring the work flow requirement for each record’s format and computer program with each government agency office,
    • Assuring each work team demonstrates full capability of meeting the work flow requirement,
    • Receiving paper records & assigning them to designated work team,
    • Receiving approved electronic records & delivering each record to the office against payment, dividedbetween the contractor, the school, the data entry worker & proofreader generating the electronic record.
  • Micro-Power-Plants — For Host Countries that commit to the information automation to village working contractors contract, the Fund will invest in Global Digital Village micro-power-plant companies that deploy and operate small wind plus solar PV panel stations sufficient to power LED lighting, computer(s),tablets, and phones.

The company will implement three separate micro-power plant [“mpp”] configurations

    • A far remote mpp at a residential site that can support charging up to 25 phones, five computers, as well as support the access point on a 24 x 7 basis. The far remote mop configuration should also be able to charge torches and lanterns.
    • A remote mpp at a residential site that can support charging up to 50 phones, ten computers, as well as an access point and P2P bridge on a 24 x 7 basis.
    • A Network Operations Center mpp that is co-located with up to four access points, twenty five computers, as well as the network controllers, the network P2P bridge aggregators, and the Very Small Aperture Terminal [“VSAT”] connector to the satellite supported on a 24 x 7 basis.
    • Each mpp will be enfranchised with a local villager operator who executes a power purchase agreement that agrees to sell all electricity generated by the mpp in return for 25% of the sales revenue.

Network Infrastructure – For Host Countries that commit to the information automation to village working contractors contract, the Fund will invest in Global Digital Village infrastructure for networks, including satellite connectivity via VSAT Transmission Systems, and wireless LANs to provide rural villages with communications connectivity in the village, and between the village and the rest of the world.

The network will charge for in-village voice minutes, out-of village voice minutes, in-village SMS, out of village SMS, in-village data calls and out of village data calls by the MB. The network will also charge interconnect fees to network carriers for into village voice minutes, into village SMS, and into-village data calls by the MB.

Content – Programming for African Rural markets that include Working Skills Programs that include training in

  • Vocational Working Skills (butcher, baker, electrician, plumber, etc.)
    • Single Professional Startup enterprises —To illustrate, an individual decides to undertake and completes a butcher’s work skills course satisfactorily. The school and teacher are rewarded for the successful graduation. The graduate is then funded to acquire the full tool set, facility, and inventory to start up his butcher business. The Vocational Working Skills enterprises receives a gross receipts percentage of the new butcher’s gross revenues.
    • Technical Working Skills (IT systems repair, configuration, administration; water systems management, construction engineer, etc.)
  • Touch typing in the local language and English
  • Operating the computer, the tablet, and the smartphone
  • The Working Skills program will align with professional recruiters to integrate a specific curriculum with specific jobs available through the recruiter so that there is a direct employment fulfillment available to the successful graduating student

CyberWise – Transparent and secure financial and data transaction processing that stays fully accountable to all stakeholders

Prevention of graft and misappropriation of data and funds in:

  • smartCASH Transactions
  • Government pension allocations
  • School stipends for students
  • eGovernment communications and elections

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