ICT new engine of economy
OVER the last decade Zimbabwe has experienced substantial growth in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), with the period between 2014 and 2015 seeing up to 10 percent improvement.
ICT specialists say that unlike other sectors of the domestic economy, the industry has remained remarkably resilient in the face of macro-economic instability.
“ICT is not only one of the fastest growing industries directly creating thousands of jobs, but it is also an important enabler of innovation and development,” said ICT analyst and entrepreneur Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi ex-CEO of ICTs firm Hansole Investments.
Zimbabwe is ranked among the top five African countries with the fastest growth in telecommunication, infrastructure and mobile money innovations.
Connectivity in Zimbabwe, whether it is the internet or mobile connections, is increasingly bringing market information, financial services, agricultural services, health services to remote areas and is also helping to change people’s lives in unprecedented ways.
New information and communications technologies, including broadband high-speed internet, are changing the way companies do business transforming public service delivery and democratising innovation.
According to World Bank economist Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang, “the mobile platform is emerging as the single most powerful way to extend economic opportunities and key services to millions of people.”
The fact that virtually most mobile customers in the coming years will be in the rural areas, means that the ICT platform is also reaching out to the populations with low levels of income and literacy.
As a result, ICT is becoming the largest distribution platform of providing public and private services to millions of people in urban and rural areas. It is clear from reported financial results of ICT companies and mobile service providers that Zimbabwe’s ICT sector has the potential to help the economy recover.
According to Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Supa Mandiwanzira, statistics show that there was significantly high growth registered by Zimbabwe’s ICT indicators with active mobile penetration reaching 90 percent and internet penetration reaching 45 percent as at December 31, 2014.