ICT sector urged to come up with public private partnerships

In an interview, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information  Communication Technology (ICT), Engineer Samuel Kundishora, said at the moment there were no partnerships yet they were important for economic growth.
“Public private partnerships (PPPs) are very crucial and I think they could help a lot in the building of the economy as there is real need for machinery and equipment upgrades in most industries.

“Government is working towards ensuring that the private and the public sectors work together so as to assist each other in bringing development in the country,” he said.
In an interview the Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara said they were still deliberating about the issue and they were going to present the issue of PPPs to Cabinet soon.

“At the moment there is little I can comment as we are in a meeting concerning the ICT PPPs, deliberating on the issue so if you call me after Easter, we will be through by then,” he said.

In a statement, the president of the Computer Society of Zimbabwe, Mr Artwell Makusha, said the Government had recognised that it couldn’t adequately provide public infrastructure and deliver quality services in various institutions and  institutions of higher and tertiary education on its own hence the creation of the concept.
“The idea of PPPs has emerged as the way to refurbish, rehabilitate, build and sustain institutional development in higher and tertiary education institutions,” he said.

He said there was a need to develop educational institutions to create a skilled workforce as the country had lost skilled labour to other countries.
“We need to develop our own industry as well as our economy hence there is need to equip education institutions to ensure development in the country.”

Mr Makusha said the public and private sectors’ working in harmony to support institutional development in institutions of higher and tertiary education was the way to go.

“These partnerships will promote growth and diversity hence the growth of the economy,” he said.