business environment for local and foreign
investors alike.
Zimbabwe’s economic progress will hinge
on the provision of world-class connectivity
and communications solutions within the
corporate and business sector and as a
matter of course should include enterprise
grade MPLS, VSAT services, fibre, WiMAX,
cloud solutions, server hosting and software
licensing, data centre operations, intrusion
prevention solutions, communications and
IoT solutions. Like many other developing
nations, Zimbabwe is undergoing a transition
from an agriculture and manufacturing
based economy to one focused primarily on
the service sector.
Zimbabwe’s own transition to a service-
based economy has partly been caused
by the economic meltdown that saw an
80 to 90% unemployment rate in the
formal sector and an upsurge in freelancers,
entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized
enterprises, which in turn has led to an
ever-increasing move to the digitalisation
of services.
Just one example is the extreme cash
shortages which resulted in a shift in the
provision of financial services from physical
transactions to online transactions. There
has also been an increase in online mobile
www.intelligentcio.com
“
ZIMBABWE’S
ECONOMIC
PROGRESS WILL
HINGE ON THE
PROVISION OF
WORLD-CLASS
CONNECTIVITY
AND
COMMUNICATIONS
SOLUTIONS
WITHIN THE
CORPORATE
AND BUSINESS
SECTOR.
financial services. Insurance can now be
bought online and in the tourism sector it is
now possible for customers to book and pay
online for hotels, restaurants and cruises.
There is no doubt that as the economy
opens up Zimbabwean business will need
to respond to the disruption technology is
causing globally and the change in customer
tastes and preferences. The promotion of
tech and innovation hubs will also be crucial
in aiding the growth of a thriving service-
based economy.
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. Taken together, 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 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
INTELLIGENTCIO
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