Computers 4 Africa

When applying to Computers 4 Africa for a donation of ICT equipment for an educational, health-related or community project in Africa, it is important that you understand our Terms and Conditions, detailed below.

“C4A” throughout this document refers to Computers 4 Africa UK.  “The Applicant” is the person or organisation directly responsible for the application to Computers 4 Africa.  “The Beneficiary” is the organisation in Africa which will eventually make use of the equipment (i.e. the school where the computers will eventually be installed).  “Intermediaries” are third parties involved in the transporting and installation of the computers from Computers 4 Africa to the beneficiary.

The beneficiary may be the same organisation as the applicant, and often there aren’t any additional intermediaries.  In this case, the beneficiary should be able to satisfy all of the conditions on their own.

1. The applicant and beneficiary are responsible, either directly or through an intermediary, for all costs & admin of transportation of the equipment, including collection from the C4A warehouse.
2. The beneficiary (end user) must be a registered non-profit organisation.  Computers cannot be supplied to individuals or profit- making organisations.
3. The beneficiary must agree to leaving the Computers 4 Africa labels on the equipment (each one has a tracking serial number),
4. The beneficiary must report back on the ultimate end user (School name, address and contact details, map co-ordinates and photos of children using the PCs – ideally in advance)
5. The beneficiary must agree that the charities/NGOs recognise our partnership with the charity/NGO concerned on their web site (both as a news item and as a UK Partner).
6. The applicant must provide the equipment to the beneficiary on a non-profit basis.
7. The beneficiary must use the computers as part of a non-profit-making enterprise.  The computers are not to be resold without explicit permission from C4A.
8. The beneficiary organisation must work in health, education or community development in Africa.  Computers 4 Africa will have some discretion in this area.
9. The beneficiary organisation must have ready access to adequate training and adequately skilled personnel to ensure that the equipment can be put to use quickly in a productive and sustainable manner and that it can be effectively maintained locally.
10. The beneficiary organisation must have appropriate facilities, including power, a suitable building and a suitable provision of security, to ensure that the equipment can be put to use quickly in a productive and sustainable manner.
11. Where 10 or more PCs are donated by Computers 4 Africa, a full evaluation of the impact of the IT equipment on the project must be carried out once it has been installed, and a case study returned to Computers 4 Africa with permission for C4A to use it in its own publicity material.  This should include maps showing the location(s) of the project(s) and photographs of the equipment in use.  C4A is working on a template for this, and will be able to offer some help with this.
12. C4A reserves the right to visit the beneficiary organisation(s) in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the provision of IT and the success of the project.  The applicant should make sure that the beneficiary understands and agrees with this before proceeding with the application process.
13. While all of the equipment C4A supplies to applicants is tested and fully functional when it is supplied, C4A cannot be held responsible for the state of the equipment after transit.  We can arrange to send a few additional items on the shipment to provide some redundancy, but it would still be a great help if you could report any equipment failures to C4A within 30 days of receipt by the beneficiary.
14. Demand for computers in Africa far exceeds the amount of IT equipment C4A is able to supply.  For this reason, C4A may not be able to help in all cases.  All applications will be considered on their merits, alongside C4A’s own goals and procedures, but not all applications will be successful.
15. Almost all of the equipment supplied by C4A is refurbished second-hand equipment, not new.  We mostly supply Pentium 3, Pentium 4 and equivalent machines.
16. All PCs are supplied with a monitor and all of the necessary cables.  Mice and keyboards are supplied subject to availability.  Power leads are supplied with UK plugs.  All of the machines supplied will be capable of running Windows 2000, and some will be Windows XP compatible.
17. C4A is a Community Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher.  This means that we can install Windows (either Windows 2000 or Windows XP) on most computers we process.  If you wish to have Windows installed on the computers you request and you are an Eligible Recipient (the terms of which are dictated by Microsoft), we will charge a £10 administration fee per install for our costs and staff time.
18. Computers 4 Africa can also obtain low-cost peripherals (mice and keyboards) by buying in bulk.  If you wish to have new peripherals supplied with the computers you request rather than refurbished items, please specify this:  We will, again, charge for the items and a small administration fee though the exact cost will vary.