IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

At a meeting held in Gaborone, Botswana recently, National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) executive secretary Nicholas Kitikiti said the country faced many challenges in coming up with a comprehensive ICT policy.

She was speaking at the launch of the e-period phase, the second part of the national ICTs project carried out to determine the country's e-readiness in Harare last Friday.

According to the Ministry of ICT’s strategic plan 2010 to 2014, the Government has a target to increase national tele-density by 10 percent on an annual basis during the period.

However, indications from statistics released in October by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe reveal that Zimbabwe’s tele-density rate stood at around 54 percent up from 37 percent recorded earlier in the year.

Zimbabwe could sanction the search for government critics online, thanks to a planned cyber-security law earmarked to make it an offence to spread falsehoods and deal with leakage of official information on social media and the internet, The Standard can report.

Fired Health minister Obadiah Moyo is currently facing trial for a scandal over issuance of a tender to a company reportedly linked to associates of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's family, after a protracted campaign on social networking platforms and online media that involved leaked documents.

First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa's The Angel of Hope Foundation has donated 50 laptops to Rufaro Mission School in Masvingo, in a move that is expected to ensure the school keeps up with technological trends in their learning programmes.

The laptops were handed over during the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe’s conference currently underway in Masvingo.

ICT Minister, Nelson Chamisa, commented that the approved plan would be formally presented to the country’s main political parties figures President Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara before being unveiled to the public.

Permanent secretary Sam Kundishora revealed that a review of the National ICT policy, launched in 2007, is planned. At a recent ICT symposium convened in Harare by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) with the theme of embracing ICT for business growth, Kundishora said some of the initiatives being carried out by the ministry include upgrading the ICT literary rate to match the country’s literacy rate above 90 percent with a series of training, awareness programmes and road shows.

There are also plans to promote competency in use of ICT tools and to familiarise the community with relevant technology.

Government is working on measures that will allow citizens to obtain passports and other official documents at post offices across the country, it has been learnt.

The latest development is likely to bring relief to millions of people living in rural and marginalised areas, who are usually forced to travel to towns and cities to secure official documents such as identification cards.

Zimbabweans should embrace digital technologies and leverage on these to ramp up production across economic sectors for the country to fully achieve sustainable development, the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Kazembe Kazembe, said yesterday.

Officially opening the ongoing Information and Telecommunications Union (ITU) Conference here, Minister Kazembe said ICT has become a key driver of economic revival hence President Mnangagwa’s government has taken a deliberate stance to mainstream its adoption.

Zimbabwe's urban population has increased from 33% of the national total, in 2012 to 38.6%, in April 2022.

The country's urban population is now 5.86 million, out of the 15.9 million total. Amidst the growing urbanization, Harare's roads and its waste management systems were declared a state of disaster, in 2017 and July 2023, respectively.

Zimbabwean telecommunications companies need to "adapt" their business models, share infrastructure and migrate more to data enabled services or risk marked decline in revenues, Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa said Thursday.

He said rapid technological developments in the industry were necessitating the shift in strategy and also highlighted that infrastructure sharing would be implemented.

Government has affirmed its commitment to develop the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) sector despite the national security risks associated with use of the Internet.

In a speech read on his behalf during a Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Zimbabwe chapter- organised civil society Internet governance conference in Harare yesterday, ICT minister Supa Mandiwanzira said stakeholders should fully utilise enormous opportunities created by the Internet.

Government is moving to consolidate its grip on the telecommunications sector through forcing mobile operators into infrastructure sharing as it seeks to control cyberspace, while keeping the biggest mobile operator Econet Wireless in check.

Informed sources said this week as part of government’s attempt to control cyberspace, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) which is now under the Office of the President, has this week been holding meetings on infrastructure sharing.

Government sees information, communication and technology (ICT) as a key enabler for economic development towards the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

This comes as government seeks to target 33% of Zimbabwe’s population living in urban environments through ICTs in growing urban infrastructure.

ICT minister Supa Mandiwanzira told stakeholders at the 6th edition of the Zimbabwe ICT Achievers Awards 2015 that the sector was a key enabler for development.

The government has announced plans to introduce one-stop border posts at all ports of entry, to improve the smooth flow of trade and ease the way of doing business in Zimbabwe.

Addressing a Press conference in Harare, chief secretary to the President and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda said by end of 2016 all border posts will be one-stop while by April Zimra and government departments will be electronically connected.

An effective public procurement office is as discussed in previous articles, responsible for legislation and policy function whereby it is expected to be instrumental in directing the creation of the legal framework.

It is further expected to be the advisor to the government on procurement matters. The most recent articles explored the monitoring function of the public procurement office (PPO) where the ex ante and ex post facto review and procurement auditing where identified as critical attributes to maintain integrity in public procurement. The focus is now on the other critical roles of the public procurement office that include the information function covered by this article, the capacity building function, the development function, the supervisory and enforcement functions that shall follow.

The Transitional Stabilization Programme (TSP) by the Zimbabwean Government targets broadening adoption and utilization of e-government across ministries. Departments, local authorities and state owned enterprises in the provision of public services to cut loopholes for corruption.

Growth of service sector also outlines opportunities for the digital economy arising out of adoption of ICT, with also benefits from increased investment in e-Government platforms.

He said the idea of e-government would see various Government departments benefiting from connectivity and once the pilot study succeeded a national data base would be created.

Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Supa Mandiwanzira has said government would force infrastructure sharing among service providers as it seeks to improve telecommunication and data services in the country.

Speaking at a consultative workshop for finalisation of the Zimbabwe's National ICT policy framework on Friday, Mandiwanzira said there was need to have a policy that restricted service providers to their core services and not infrastructure development.

Zimbabweans have been urged to embrace the concept of smart cities to help fight climate change.

The call was made by the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZNGSA) during a Financing Smart Cities and Rural Connect conference in Bulawayo yesterday.

A smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient using digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and business.