Minister calls for new media investors

INFORMATION minister Monica Mutsvangwa has urged investors to come to Zimbabwe where 93% of citizens are literate, an advantage in terms of human resources.

Speaking during a ministerial panel discussion at the on-going first edition of the Global Media Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe had opened its doors to foreign investors in the information communication technology (ICT) sector to ensure universal access to information.

The congress was organised by Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company in partnership with the Emirates News Agency to enable new business breakthroughs and reinvent companies through the media.

Some of the local media practitioners who are attending the conference with Mutsvangwa include Zimbabwe Independent editor Faith Zaba.

“People normally don’t read newspapers anymore. They are just stuck to their gadgets. In Zimbabwe, the biggest advantage is we have a 93% literacy rate so the penetration of social media is big — great.

“What we are emphasising as a government is to make sure that we cultivate and also enhance ICTs so that we have access to information.

“We don’t want to leave others. We have to make sure that everybody comes on board. We are making sure that digitalisation is complete.

“So there is room for investment in terms of equipment, transmitters, and the studios in our community radios. All that investment is going to be done.”

She urged traditional media to fight disinformation and misinformation to survive competition from social media.

“Tolerance is important, inclusivity is important. We bring public media and private media together because we need to educate our people so that they embrace digitalisation and we move with the future and shape it. We do not want our traditional media to die.

“We need the viability of our traditional media and together we are working to make sure that as we embrace this digitalisation and artificial intelligence, we can get everybody on board.”