STAFF WRITER
The premier business and finance weekly , the Business Times, held its inaugural Zimbabwe Telecommunications conference in the capital , Harare, last week with great success.
Held under the theme “Connecting the unconnected: Bridging the digital divide,” the flagship event drew around 150 delegates, most of whom were from the telecoms sector.
Vongai Muzenda, the managing director of AB Communications, the parent company of Business Times, ZiFM Stereo, 98.4Midlands FM , Hevoi FM and TruckAds, among many others, set the tone for the event emphasising that businesses in Zimbabwe should embrace artificial intelligence (AI), citing its ability to increase productivity and significantly transform the way people live and conduct business worldwide.
Several studies across the world have found that the AI ecosystem has helped generate significant economic growth opportunities around the globe.
According to experts, AI can complete extremely precise tasks quickly, saving a significant amount of time and money. AI, which is the “new buzzword” in the modern world also contributes to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 9, which focuses on industry, innovation and infrastructure.
“You may be aware that the buzz word today across the globe is Artificial Intelligence; how ready are we? What are we doing in Zimbabwe in terms of AI? Muzenda asked.
She underlined the significance of Business Times convening key stakeholders in the telecommunications industry to devise strategies on connecting the unconnected thereby bridging the digital divide as is the theme for this august gathering.
“We have seen the government playing its part as we shall hear more from the Honourable Minister (of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Dr Tatenda Mavetera) here and it is critical that as players, we also play our part,” Muzenda said.
She added: “Today [last Thursday], we gather here with a common purpose [that is] to address the critical issues and opportunities within the telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe.
Guest speaker, the Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services, Dr Tatenda Mavetera, advised Zimbabwe businesses and individuals to embrace technology in order to increase productivity and spur economic growth.
She said ICTs are the fundamental backbone of any nation’s ability to experience sustainable economic growth.
“Embrace ICTs,” she said adding that “Technology is driving progress across the world. It’s a powerful economic stimulus. ICTs are the underlying nerve system for sustainable economic development in any country. The ICT sector has proven to be a strong driver of GDP growth in nations across the world.”
Dr Mavetera said the government was aware of the significance of ICTs for socio-economic development and transformation.
According to her, the government is placing a high priority on enabling the development of an e-enabled economy in which all industries use ICT to boost productivity in accordance with international trends.
“The thrust of NDS1 is to facilitate achievement of an e-enabled economy where all sectors embrace ICT to improve efficiency in line with the global trends,” Dr Mavetera said.
She added: “The Ministry of ICTPCS is critical to the attainment of a digital economy through the provision of ICT solutions and services across all sectors of the economy.
The ministry’s policy thrust hinges on improving access to ICTs, increasing ICTs usage, improving ICT governance and ensuring ICT industry growth.”
Alfred Marisa, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) deputy director, said there is a need to converge regulators to improve ease of doing business.
“Zimbabwe does not have a converged regulator as it has POTRAZ that regulates the postal and telecommunications while the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe [BAZ] that regulates broadcasting services, despite the technology having converged.
“The same technology that provides telecoms services can also be used to provide broadcasting services. This is a matter at policy level which the policymakers are dealing with to ensure that there is convergence at regulatory level.
“That helps to attract investments into these two sectors,” Marisa said.
According to Marisa, licensing processes have converged licensing services as opposed to the silo framework which it initially had when the regulator was set up.
“We have moved from silo licensing to converged licensing framework and now we have unified licences like TelOne. This allows them to offer any service that is available,” he said.
According to NetOne CEO Raphael Mushanawani, inclusive digital growth will enhance connectivity across the nation.
“We need convergence or co-regulation where multiple sectors are involved to avoid overlaps and arbitrages. Collaborative regulations through engagement of a broader set of players across the ecosystem – regulatory divergence is costly. Collaborative regulation also encourages standard setting and information exchange,” Mushanawani said.
He said there is a need to apply a risk weighted regulation – this is a shift from one size fits all to a data driven segmented approach based on the risk factors of the regulated entities.
“As the preferred telecommunications service provider, NetOne recognises the vital role that connectivity plays in bridging the digital divide and empowering rural communities. NetOne’s approach to rural connectivity is centred around collaboration. “We firmly believe that partnering with relevant stakeholders, including government entities, local communities, non-governmental organisations and private organisations is key to achieving meaningful and sustainable progress,” Mushanawani said.
He said individuals in the rural areas have limited access to affordable and reliable internet connectivity and this digital divide hampers economic growth, restricts access to education and healthcare, and hinders the overall development of these communities.
Mushanawani said in line with the National Development Strategy [NDS]1, it is committed to changing this narrative and ensuring that every Zimbabwean, regardless of their geographical location, has access to the benefits that connectivity brings.
He said to lead by example, NetOne collaborated with Zimpost nationwide for easy access to its services due to wider network availability and rural communities can access all services in all Zimpost outlets including mobile money transfer.
“In addition to our collaboration with government and local communities, NetOne partners with other sector players to share infrastructure and resources. By leveraging existing networks and infrastructure, we can optimise costs, accelerate deployment, and extend coverage to rural areas more efficiently. This collaborative approach not only benefits the participating companies but, more importantly, ensures that rural communities access network connectivity,” Mushanawani said.
Rodney Ndamba, CEO of the Institute for Sustainability Africa, said telecoms companies could collaborate efforts to improve flow of capital and economic impacts throughout society and business value chains.
“The telecoms players can help each other in building shared vision on environmental, social and corporate governance [ESG] / sustainability by providing platforms for identifying negative impacts and remedial mechanisms,” Ndamba said.
