Zimbabwe is now, for the first time, assembling computers
and other technological gadgets locally following the establishment of Zimbabwe
Technology Company (ZITCO).
ZITCO is a joint venture between TelOne, Chinese company
Inspur and a Government-owned entity and is involved in the assembling of
computers, laptops, tablets and other technological gadgets.
It is the first company in Zimbabwe to assemble computers
locally and has the capacity to produce 150 000 gadgets annually at its plant
in Msasa, Harare.
ZITCO products will go a long way in substituting the
importation of technological gadgets that are draining the country of foreign
currency.
President Mnangagwa toured the company yesterday and hailed
the achievement.
He said the Government, under the Second Republic, will do
everything possible to support the growth in technology to ensure Zimbabwe
caught up with the rest of the world in terms of development.
Technology, the President said, was the way to go and
Zimbabwe was partnering friendly countries to advance its technological
capabilities.
“This has been an eye-opening event for me,” he said.
“I am on leave, but this man, Dr (Misheck) Sibanda (Chief
Secretary to the President and Cabinet), persuaded me to come, then I agreed to
come.
“ICT is the way to go. We need to modernise our economy, we
need to catch up with the rest of the world, the developing world, as well as
the developed world.
“To do so, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel anymore. We
need to access technology from those countries that are willing to engage and
cooperate with us and China is one of such country. Fortunately, the Minister
of
Finance (and Economic Development) Professor Mthuli Ncube
is here. ‘Prof this is where you should put your money to preserve it’.”
President Mnangagwa said ZITCO required Government support
to grow and supply both the domestic and international market.
“As this entity grows, it will deal with the domestic
market and I see that in future it can also go in the external market, but for
them to do so, they need to be supported by us.
“We have young people doing latest technology here. We
always see those things in developed economies, now that is here in Msasa,
Harare. Fantastic. This is what we want and let me assure you that as the
Second Republic, we will support you and the ball is now in your court now that
I know what is happening.
“The Chief Secretary has briefed me about this, but I never
paid more attention to it until recently when he came back from leave. He went
on leave, when he came back when I was on leave he phoned me and said Cde
President, you need to see this establishment because they need to be supported
and I am happy.
“I also informed the Vice President, Acting President now
(General Constantino Chiwenga) last night that I wish you should come and I
don’t think he is regretting that he has come because as we were walking
around, he said this is what we should have done many years back, but as it is,
once we have begun, we should do everything that we can to ensure that your
vision is realised and it becomes our vision.”
Briefing journalists, TelOne projects executive Engineer
Jeremia Munembe said: “We are in a partnership with various other stakeholders
into this ICT assembly plant and we got this plant through the Office of the
President and Cabinet.
“We are looking at assembling desktops, laptops, tablets
and other ICT devices in this factory and the benefits of that are
import-substitution and we will spend less and we will also be able to empower
and create employment not only in this plant, but also to downstream
industries.
“We are also looking at opportunities where we will work
with other small to medium enterprises and innovation companies in terms of
software components. We are looking at a number of products that feed into
laptops, desktops and ICT devices.” Herald
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