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A significant ICT upgrade for a few of Zimbabwe’s municipal governments may improve their ability to communicate and deliver services. While the installation is part of a larger project, the cities and small towns stand to benefit from the investment in their infrastructure.

By Tawanda Karombo

Zimbabwe, Harare -- A massive project launched by a German development organization is helping to bridge the technology divide in Zimbabwe’s local municipalities. When complete, it will principally result in the installation of broadband internet, e-mail and area networks in the government offices of a handful of the country’s smaller cities and towns.

The German Technical Corporation (GTZ) is inviting companies in the ICT sector to submit proposals for the installation of internet and area networks in Gweru and Kadoma (both in Zimbabwe's Midlands region) and Kariba (in Mashonaland West province). The ICT upgrade is being implemented as part of a larger GTZ project to revamp and set up water supply systems in urban areas.

Government and local officials in Zimbabwe have limited access to the internet. Some of them process information manually as their offices are not computerized. This delays the processing of data and poses a barrier to effective decision making.

In the notice released to the local press last week soliciting bids for the project, GTZ stated that the “Internet and Email installations in Gweru and Kadoma” will use the “Wimax for the WAN supported by routers for the wireless LAN.”

Wimax is a recent wireless technology that has the capacity to deliver high-speed broadband internet connections over long distances. WAN stands for “wireless area network” and LAN is “local area network.” A WAN involves linking two or more computers via a wireless connection. A LAN uses cables to connect two or more computers.

Development analysts and communication industry insiders have hailed the initiative by GTZ, saying the local municipalities involved will benefit greatly from the internet and networking platform.

“At least this does provide a communication and networking solution for the municipalities’ personnel, and hopefully, this will aid service delivery through the speeding up of decision making,” said Martin Chitendero, a communications specialist based in Harare.

In March of this year, the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe approved licenses for companies to offer internet services. Ever since this decision, internet usage has been increasing in Zimbabwe. There are now more than a dozen reliable broadband internet service suppliers.

Tawanda Karombo is a freelance journalist living in Zimbabwe. He has had experience with Financial, Business and Communication Reporting. He has previously written for The Financial Gazette (Business and Financial Weekly in Zimbabwe), MoneyWeb (South African Investment and Financial web publication) and The Zimbabwe Gazette (Online news publication about Zimbabwe) among others.

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