Poa! Internet

Subsidy : August 2023

BIO has granted USD 13.5 K of technical assistance to Poa! internet, a low-cost internet service provider in Kenya

Amount

$ 13,543.00

Type of investment

Subsidy

Beneficiary locations

Africa: Kenya

Investment field

Enterprises

Activity

J61.20 Wireless telecommunications activities

Organisation

poa! internet

Website

https://poa.co.ke/

Domicile

Kenya

More investments in

poa! internet

Debt € 3,000,000.00 (2023)
Subsidy € 17,264.00 (2022-2023)

Poa Internet Kenya Ltd is a low-cost Internet service provider that develops and delivers unlimited, affordable internet to individuals, households and small businesses in underserved urban and peri-urban communities in Kenya. Poa offers broadband services and public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Today, the company serves ~30,000 residential clients via its 200 towers and is expected to scale across Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa in the coming five years. Poa uses well proven technology, augmented by proprietary software, designed to address the deficiencies of the existing market and enable low cost and high-volume internet access to customers with homes located in areas that do not receive fibre.

Technical assistance

POA! Internet has connected several schools in the greater Nairobi metropolitan area as part of their program to strengthen its ties with the community. These schools are receiving a home internet connection free of charge. Besides that, Poa! has used their Corporate Social Responsability budget to upgrade 13 out of the 37, providing them with additional bandwidth (10Mbps instead of 4Mbps), additional coverage (3 access points indoor/outdoor) and end user devices for teaching purpose (laptop and multimedia projector).

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of these interventions; to measure and compare the differences between the "regular" and the "upgraded" schools.

Expected impact

Identifying and documenting to what extent the "upgraded" interventions further drive impact. This will support the design of POA's strategy regarding impact, their corporate social responsibility strategy and their philantropic fundraising.