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Ray Bande in MUTARE
A RAFT of measures are now in motion to expedite the country’s migration from analogue to digital broadcasting which is lagging behind by eight years in terms of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) regulations, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said this in an interview on the sidelines of the Ministry’s strategic planning and review workshop in Vumba, near Mutare yesterday.
“It is also crucial for planning for the ZimDigital project. Yes, there is a funding gap in terms of the modernisation of studios.
“There is a funding gap in terms of the DTT project, in terms of ITU regulations, that is transition from analogue to digital. So this strategic planning and review workshop is there for all participants, directors and executives to find strategies and ways on how we can domesticate investment, how best we can come up with robust strategies to ensure that we cover the whole country,” Dr Muswere said.
“So the funding gap, we discussed about that and there are five ways we hope to cover this gap. One of these is the Treasury funding the DTT project. The second one includes disposal of spectrum that is currently with POTRAZ, which the broadcasting sector does not require currently in terms of ITU regulations.
“The third option is the Triple P arrangement (Public Private Partnerships) which also touches on return on investment. That requires a sustainable financial plan. The fourth item is how best we can utilise the domestic resources, partnerships with local advertising organisations for us to be able to raise ZBC funding.
“However, it is also of paramount importance to see how best we can have good human resources management. So financial resources yes, they are important, but it has to be holistic with good human resources management also in place given that we are behind by eight years.”
Dr Muswere said the strategic planning and review workshop gives directors and executives in the Ministry an opportunity to brainstorm and deliberate on how best set targets can be achieved.
“The most important reason why we are having this strategic workshop is planning in order for us to be able to set the targets. It is for us to be able to plan. People do not plan to fail, but they fail to plan. This strategic planing review workshop is part of the five-year plan as a country for us to be able to define the parameters, to define and commit financial resources.
“It is also meant to define the methodology in terms of the set targets, roles, responsibilities and duties of all parastatals under the purview of the Ministry so that we build a functional and sustainable information, media and broadcasting services ecosystem,” said Dr Muswere.
The theme of the workshop is: “Re-engineering information, publicity and broadcasting services to facilitate a two-way communication strategy”.
Among the expected outputs of the workshop are reviewing the strategic planning, 2024 annual plan and the 2024 performance contracts.
Online Reporter