Online Reporter
Engineer Raphael Mushanawani
Participating at the recently held Vision 2030 Intergenerational Summit as a panellist was an opportunity to reflect on Zimbabwe’s current growth trajectory and locating the role of connectivity in consolidating and pushing forward the national vision.
The conference deliberations illustrated the strategic intersection of generational mandates, interlacing the past and present Zimbabwean national question — where experience of the past meets the energy of the present to shape the promise of the future.
For me, the major take-away was that intergenerational engagements must not be solely about discussing policy.
Such conversations must frankly locate successes and guarantee continuity of national goals.
As it stands, the baton is being passed to a new generation — one that must run a digital race, equipped with skills, guided by values and driven by purpose.
Therefore, connectivity must be the bridge between yesterday’s brilliant invention and future goal attainment.
Likewise, such is the transitional reform from the First to the Second Republic that facilitated the continuity of our policy successes and the ultimate discontinuity of aspects of misgovernance in the running of Zimbabwe’s affairs.
The National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) set out the regeneration milestones of the Second Republic’s current economic growth.
As this year marks the end of NDS1, it is evident that Zimbabwe’s economy has been rehabilitated to new and unimaginable heights.
The country’s current success is anchored in currency sovereignty, renewed investor confidence in Zimbabwe, as well as tourism and extractive and secondary industry growth.
The crossover to the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) gestures a defining moment, one in which technology, skills and innovation are converging to build a Zimbabwe that is not stratified into haves and have-nots.
The deliberate policy of leaving no one and no place behind in the national governance matrix also necessitates a mandatory call to leave no one and no place unconnected if NDS2 is to deliver the expected outcomes.
Our long-lasting development trajectory under President Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa depends on digital transformation for accelerating industrialisation and inclusive human capital development in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
Data abundance and its indiscriminate access to heritage-based creatives, innovators and smart production hubs for traditional means of production make it possible for the Zimbabwean economy to race with other global economies at an equal pace.
Data is a critical enabler for this.
As such, data is a new human right and must be accessed by all.
What then is this Vision 2030?
It is the sustainable development goals (SDGs)-inspired coordination of all pillars of governance to make Zimbabwe empowered, modern, industrial and prosperous by the year 2030.
How feasible is this aspiration?
The current 6,6 percent economic growth rate is an uncontested indicator.
And confirmation by Forbes magazine that Zimbabwe is the best country to visit this year demonstrates Zimbabwe’s enhanced global visibility.
Thanks to the role of broadband in helping showcase the country’s “. . . mosaic of rugged wild terrain and deep ancestral heritage — where jagged granite outcrops rise above sun-scorched golden plains and skies stretch wide over rustling acacia groves. The ancient stone city of Great Zimbabwe stands as a powerful reminder of the country’s layered past; its dry-stone walls steeped in centuries-old history”.
With these successes, guaranteed by firm political will, custodians of cyber communications must be challenged to set digital infrastructure foundations that will carry the next generation into a future.
Technology must not divide generations; it must connect them.
The older generation brings wisdom and institutional memory; the younger generation brings innovation and agility.
Leaders in the ICT industry must create the digital bridges that make this inter-generational path-crossing to be hinderance-free, productive and worthwhile.
Through partnerships with tertiary institutions, innovation hubs, vocational training centres and the Government, the ICT sector must invest in the development of digital skills — nurturing innovators, software developers and data scientists whose talents will transform the aspirations of Vision 2030 into reality.
This calls for the humanisation of technological proliferation, thereby guiding its impact on how people live, learn and lead institutions.
Technology must serve humanity and not replace human beings’ authentic intelligence with artificial substitutes.
As we connect communities, we are equally committed to promoting responsible digital citizenship, where cyber criminality is contained and even crushed.
That is why we are collaborating with various stakeholders to support national campaigns against drug and substance abuse, corruption, illicit financial flows and cyber violence, to mention but a few.
The same technology that disrupts morality can also guarantee human security, recreate societies and drive sustainable development.
In fact, technology is the panacea to cyber vices.
In smart agriculture, young farmers must continue to use mobile technology to access weather forecasts, digital mapping and land-use information, helping them make informed decisions and increase productivity.
Connectivity is transforming land use for sustainable yield growth and climate change-resilient productivity for guaranteed food security.
In smart mining, technology is now the new pickaxe. Digital surveying, claim management and prospecting tools are enabling young Zimbabweans to participate in the mining value chain responsibly and efficiently.
These innovations are breaking historical barriers.
This explains the target of a US$12 billion mining sector, which Zimbabwe has met.
The success of network providers must not be measured by the number of erected towers, but by the innovations that strengthen and drive national development.
When a young farmer accesses real-time information before planting, climate risks are reduced and agro-driven GDP (gross domestic product) is guaranteed.
When a student in a rural college accesses e-learning content through broadband, a new contribution to the body of knowledge is registered.
When a clinic consults a specialist in Harare through a fibre connection, lives are saved.
With the same digital transformation tools, Zimbabwe’s development standards will be global.
From local innovators to global low-earth orbit partners, we share one common space — the digital sky. This means Harare’s e-commerce must have corresponding frequency with the economic pulse of New Delhi, Hong Kong, Moscow, New York, Davos, Brussels and many other centres of capital. The future of technology is interconnected, and Zimbabwe’s growth depends on how effectively we harness these partnerships for the greater good.
This means data is central to marketing Zimbabwe’s emerging steel economy in the same way our agricultural mechanisation can be easily powered through consistent connectivity between our local farmers and international resource markets.
Data is the linking medium between the horticulture vocational training centre graduate and the Chinese market of 1,4 billion people.
Data enables the Ethiopian handmade shoe producer to reach the European Union market of 450 million people.
Herein lies the opportunity for NetOne to lead the pack in providing cheap and efficient data supply to the rest of Africa.
This Zimbabwean-rooted mapping of data sovereignty is key to dismantling the commodification of African people and the continued haemorrhaging of Africa’s resources.
Africa’s next liberation resides in digitally catapulting the continent’s collective national aspirations.
This is important in asserting the continent’s equality among other continents.
Broadband connectivity is our linkage to shared continental ambitions.
Engineer Raphael Mushanawani is the NetOne group chief executive officer. This article encapsulates his submission at the recently held Vision 2030 Intergeneration Summit.
