COUNTRY FOCUS: ZIMBABWE
At present, fibre
deployment has been
limited to the main
urban centres such as
Harare and Bulawayo
While corporate connectivity will provide
the foundations of a growing economy, the
provision of technology solutions within the
SME sector will ensure Zimbabwe’s growth
path is as inclusive and wide-ranging as
possible. Current statistics indicate that about
80% of the Zimbabwean economy is in the
hands of small business across a range of
sectors from mining, exporting and agriculture
to manufacturing and online marketing.
These businesses form an integral part of
the economy and have become one of the
largest sources of employment in Zimbabwe,
employing 60% of the country’s workforce
while contributing around 50% to the GDP.
There is now a renewed and deliberate effort
by government to formalise the operations
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of players in the SME market and as the
seed-bed of business growth, innovation and
employment creation, this segment of our
economy now offers a lucrative segment to
which ISPs can offer their services.
By way of example, Dandemutande’s core
strength is its provision of enterprise grade
connectivity to the corporate market and
we are now extending this capability to
the SME market. Through Utande, we offer
a suite of products that speaks directly to
SME requirements for cost effective, reliable
Internet services, IT consultation to optimise
business processes as well as efficient
process and systems sensitive to the time
and cost constraints of SME’s. In order to
fully take advantage of Zimbabwe’s growth
prospects, small businesses will need to
harness the full range of digital technologies
to achieve true competitiveness and long-
term sustainability.
In addition to the opportunities for
growth within the SME sector, rural
connectivity rightly remains a key focus
area for governments across the continent.
Zimbabwe is no different and efforts to
bridge the divide between rural and urban
access to technology is one of the key focus
areas of the Zimbabwean government’s
Post and Telecommunication Regulatory
Authority (POTRAZ), which this year intends
to reduce the terrestrial coverage gap by at
least 25% through strategic partnerships
with licensed operators.
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