SHARON Mlauzi from the Siamchembu area of Gokwe is working in her vast cotton field while labourers are helping out picking the “white gold” in exchange for money to buy other necessities.
Byron Mutingwende
The area is shut out from infrastructure like tarred roads, clinics and schools.
Some students walk in excess of 20km to the nearest school in Vumba or Chitekete.
Women and children endure the extra burden of travelling longer distances to the grinding mills and grocery stores. Worse still, there is no access to services from the country’s sole fixed telecommunication provider, TelOne.
“By virtue of our geographical location and exclusion from such important services, life becomes hard this side of the country. More often than not, we have for a long time been exposed to unscrupulous traders who come from as far as Harare, Bulawayo and other cities to barter cooking oil, blankets, rice and clothes they bring in exchange for our livestock and crops,” Mlauzi complained, her arms akimbo, staring into the distant horizon.
“Our possessions like cattle, goats and chickens are naturally more valuable than counterfeit clothes as well as sugar, salt and tea they come to trade with us. However, because our access to these commodities is limited and we need them since they are basic, we are forced to part with our valuables.”
Mlauzi, however, appreciates the importance of access to communication – particularly mobile telecommunication services in uplifting people’s lives no matter their geographical location or levels of education.
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“When we got access to a mobile telecommunication network around 2010, our lives were greatly improved. Gone were the days when the relaying of information was cumbersome. We used to rely on bus drivers to convey important messages about funerals and sickness of relatives to our children and relatives in towns and cities far away from us,” she said.
“Where information would reach intended recipients within days, we are glad now it takes seconds with the use of a cellular phone.”
She added that the use of mobile phones had remarkably improved rural folks’ lives in many ways. Whereas many in the villages would transact their goods with traders from towns and cities without consulting their enlightened relatives in urban areas, they would now consult first before transacting.
“Whenever some traders bring their wares, we consult our children in towns and cities for favourable and fair prices on the phone. The development has seen us getting value for our possessions unlike in the past when we would barter our valued possessions for a song; we now get important advice from our children in the towns,”, a fellow villager Cynthia Padzakashamba said.
Notable telecommunication providers include Econet, Telecel and NetOne although Africom also provides this service it is active as an internet access provider alongside Liquid Telecom, TelOne, Telco and Powertel.
According to Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz, Econet had 61%, Telecel 24% and NetOne 15% of mobile subscriber market share as at February 2014. The first mobile network provider to be licensed was NetOne, followed by Telecel and lastly Econet which commenced operations in July 1998, two years after NetOne had launched its network.
Supporting education and sport
MOBILE telecommunication network operators have been active and visible in their support for education and the development of sport in the country. Econet, Telecel and NetOne have supported these critical development social services at various levels.
In football, NetOne bank rolled the Charity Shield to support and develop local soccer initiatives and proceeds from the tournament went to charity to help underprivileged people in the various communities. While at one time Econet funded the Premier Soccer League, it has shelved the initiative.
In this regard, Telecel Zimbabwe recently extended its giving hand to sport by unveiling a promotion for football lovers through an exciting promotion dubbed Go Brazil offering prizes worth more than $200 000, including four prizes of an all-expenses paid trip for two to the soccer World Cup in Brazil.
Telecel Zimbabwe said four lucky subscribers will each receive two tickets for the World Cup. The mobile telecommunication giant will pay the cost of the air fares, visas and bed and breakfast accommodation in a three star hotel in Rio de Janeiro, as well as some spending money. Other prizes include cash prizes of up to $10 000, World Cup jerseys and Samsung handsets.
In supporting education, Econet seems to be leading other players in the sector.
“It is heartening to note that all mobile telecommunication network providers are providing mobile phone internet services. This has improved people’s access to information and knowledge. We are glad as students at University of Zimbabwe that Econet Zero does not charge students for accessing educational sites through its internet services. This will go a long way in improving our educational capabilities,” a third year Economics student at the University of Zimbabwe Kelvin Maurikira said.
Econet’s Capernaum Trust has also offered scholarships to many disadvantaged families including one Pride Gonde, who recently attained an Honours degree from the Midlands State University despite hailing from an underprivileged background.
Mobile money for a cashless economy ONE phenomenal development brought about by mobile telecommunication services providers is the use of mobile banking services. Telecel provides Telecash, NetOne provides one Wallet while Econet provides Ecocash.
Mlauzi says she does not have to travel to Gokwe Town centre or Nembudziya (Mutora) Growth Point to withdraw money to pay farm labourers who help with cultivating her fields or harvest cotton and maize. Instead she relies on the many available banking booths in her village. “These banking facilities provided by the mobile network providers are within our reach and easily accessible. They normally work even at night and I have no headaches paying workers after they finish cultivating or harvesting since the transactions for accessing cash are simple and fast. One has to follow simple instructions on his or her mobile phone and cash will be accessed instantly,” Chipangayi, Chipinge wheat farmer Ronald Mhlaba said.
According to Econet chief executive officer Douglas Mboweni, Econet is one of the biggest employers in Zimbabwe since it provides over 20 000 direct and indirect jobs. This is achieved through the provision of cutting edge innovations including Eco-cash, Eco-farmer and Eco-school.
Mboweni singled out Ecocash as one innovation that has gone a long way in providing financial services to previously excluded communities like farms and mines. He said the company was also immensely contributing to the country’s economic growth since it had so far paid over $900 million in taxes, duties and levies since 2009 – making Econet one of the top taxpayers to Treasury.
One individual who operates six Eco-cash boots at Fourth Street Bus Terminus in Harare, but refused to be named said that he earns at least $300 daily in profit from the Eco-cash transactions.
“This translates to over $9 000 per month in total earnings, a figure that few top executives of blue chip companies in Zimbabwe earn considering the liquidity crunch and high unemployment rate the country is facing,” he said.
Mboweni said that since Ecocash was introduced in October 2011, a total of 4,2 million people were impacted by Eco-cash, representing 53% of Zimbabwe’s adult population. This is in comparison to a situation where there were only 850 000 account holders in banks. This mobile banking development has driven financial inclusion to new heights as highlighted by these statistics. People can now transact bill payments and bulk payments as well as salaries through such services like eco-cash.
While getting loans from banks is a daunting task since the banks demand collateral, Eco-cash loans were given to consistent Eco-cash users to access 30-day loans, thus making it easier for those in businesses with fast returns like selling perishables in restaurants.
Disaster relief and management
RECENTLY the country experienced serious flooding following intermittent rains that led to the near collapse of Tokwe-Mukorsi dam wall. As a result, thousands of families were relocated to Chingwizi Camp after the affected families lost their livestock and crops in the floods.
Econet set up a mobile base station at the camp which offered subsidised call rates to the victims. The mobile telecommunications giant also installed storage facilities at the camp and supplied 30 tonnes of aid to the victims.
Since the area has no power, Econet provided 10 000 solar lamps to improve lighting during the night. One area that was also affected by flooding is Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North.
At the end of April, Telecel Zimbabwe donated a seven-tonne truck of cooking oil, rice, sugar, maize-meal, salt and other foodstuffs to flood victims in Tsholotsho.
The donation was handed over to Matabeleland North provincial affairs minister Cain Mathema at the Telecel stand at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
Receiving the donation on behalf of the flood victims, Mathema said the floods had destroyed people’s homes in Tsholotsho, which meant they were in great need of support.
“We need a lot of support from everyone,” he said. “We are grateful for the support Telecel has given us. Thank you so much on behalf of the community.”
In March, Telecel made a similar donation to the Tokwe-Mukorsi flood victims.
Mobile telecommunications sector has greatest potential to grow economy
UNITED States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton said the information, communications technology (ICT) sector has great potential to revive and grow the economy and that the mobile telecommunications sector was better positioned to lead in that drive.
Wharton made the remarks in his speech during the Business Conference at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo recently.
“Africa has the greatest ICT growth potential of any continent, and Zimbabwe is far and away the nation in Africa best able to lead and profit from that growth. No other nation in Africa has the same powerful combination of intellectual capital, infrastructure and language capability that Zimbabwe has. Further, I believe that Zimbabwe has the potential to be a global player in ICT as well as a regional leader,” Wharton said.
The US ambassador said the global app economy was expected to generate over $68 billion in 2013 and that the global video game market was valued at $65 billion by June 2011.
“In the past few years the mobile industry has experienced a powerful upheaval sparked by the launch of smart-phones and the creation of the app ecosystem. The “mobile app economy” represents the fastest growing area in the mobile value chain today and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.
“This value migration from hardware to software is profound. In 2012, the global app economy accounted for 18% of the combined app services and handset market. We estimate that by 2016 the contribution of the app economy will rise to 33% of the combined market, equivalent to half of the handset market,” Wharton said.
Mobile telecommunications industry constraints and way forward
CHALLENGES faced by mobile telecommunication network operators include the unavailability of power. Due to intermittent power outages, over 70% of base stations are run by diesel generators, leading to an increase in tariffs charged to consumers for making calls or accessing mobile internet services.
The licensing fees for mobile network operators were also exorbitant.
Recently, Econet parted with $137,5 million for its second licence spanning 20 years, a high fee compared to charges for the same licence in other countries in the region. The authorisation process for new base station sites also took longer, hampering the widening of network coverage by mobile network providers.
The mobile network providers were therefore urging a supportive regulatory framework in the sector. There was need for authorities and lawmakers to support a framework that ensured tariffs charged reflected operating costs shouldered by network providers.
The government was also urged to provide incentives for investment in infrastructure carried by network providers in instances where they constructed access roads and power lines to base stations. Through mobile banking facilities, mobile network operators also called for support for promotion of the use of mobile money to ensure a “cashless future” and on authorities to ease duty on capital equipment meant for the telecoms sector.
