Trust Freddy
Business Correspondent
THE Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has shifted its regulatory approach from market gatekeeping to an open gateway model, adopting technology-neutral licensing and state-backed de-risking frameworks to position the nation as a regional springboard for tech ventures.
Speaking at the Zimbabwe India-Africa Technology & Entrepreneurship Summit in Harare today, POTRAZ Director General Dr Gift Machengete said regulatory agility and connectivity are essential to attracting venture capital into Africa’s expanding digital economy.
“Allow me to begin with a simple observation: investors do not invest in opportunities alone. They invest in environments. They invest where there is certainty, connectivity, innovation and trust,” Dr Machengete said.
“For much of the history of telecommunications, the regulator’s instinct was to guard the gate. It decided who could enter, with what equipment and on what terms. That model served its time. It cannot serve a digital economy, where the next great enterprise may begin with a laptop, a connection and an idea. I stand before you as a regulator, but not as a gatekeeper. I stand before you as a gateway.”
Under the gateway model, POTRAZ no longer restricts operators based on technical specifications, choosing instead to evaluate applicants strictly on their intended service delivery.
“We no longer license technologies. We are technology neutral,” Dr Machengete added. “We no longer ask an applicant, ‘Which technology will you use?’ or ‘Which licence do you want?’ We ask a simpler question: ‘What service do you want to provide?’ That single shift frees innovators to choose the best tools for the job.”
Dr Machengete acknowledged that the main barrier facing early-stage startups is risk, which prevents founders from raising their first dollar of capital before proving their business models.
To bridge the early-stage venture gap where private investors hesitate to commit capital to unproven concepts, POTRAZ is using the Universal Service Fund (USF) to absorb initial risk.
“Someone must step into that gap. Someone must absorb part of the early risk and give the innovation room to grow until investors can see its potential and are drawn in,” Dr Machengete noted. “That is what we mean by de-risking, and it is exactly what POTRAZ is doing.”
Through its Innovation Drive Programme, funded by the Universal Service Fund (USF), POTRAZ has provided catalytic funding to more than 100 innovations based on agreed milestones.
The authority’s AI for Impact programme, Dr Machengete said, drew over 700 applications this year and advanced 16 leading artificial intelligence innovations towards commercialisation alongside private sector partners such as Econet.
To ensure technical inventors transition into commercial entrepreneurs, POTRAZ partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to offer business bootcamps, pricing strategies and management training.
“Money alone does not build a business. Many of our innovators are brilliant engineers and problem-solvers who have never written a business plan, priced a product or managed a payroll… Our aim is to turn inventors into entrepreneurs,” he said.
