ICT boost for Chikomba rural folks

SCORES of youths in Chikomba East on Friday received a major boost after government officially opened a community information centre (CIC) at Sadza growth point.

Speaking during the official opening ceremony of the CIC, Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services minister Jenfan Muswere said the rural folks deserved to be connected like their urban counterparts.

“While it is critical for those in urban areas to be connected, mobile broadband is equally critical for rural underserved and unserved communities to leverage economic, health and educational opportunities,” he said.

“Community information centres bridge this gap by providing rural communities with a multi-sectoral digital environment which criss-crosses agriculture, health, commerce and industry, mining, and even social issues that impact on families, especially peri-urban and rural families.”

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has established 146 CICs across the country, with 114 of them already operational.

Mashonaland East province currently has 12 established CICs, with nine of them already in use.

Speaking at the same event, Potraz director-general Gift Machengete said ICTs were crucial as they accelerated the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

“I am sure you will understand why we did not hesitate to establish a community information centre here as ICTs accelerate progress towards every single SDG and, in particular towards SDG 9 of promoting inclusivity and fostering innovation.

“Indeed, this is completing the work the Sadza family started and enables the area to exploit the benefits of fully utilising ICTs in a bid to bridge the digital gap,” he said.

The official launch of the Sadza CIC was also attended by Chikomba East legislator Sekai Nzenza, who said the establishment of such facility was welcome and that a number of youths would benefit through e-learning.