One always wonders why NetOne had to play second fiddle to perennial pacesetters Econet Wireless yet it was the country’s first mobile operator to be licensed in 1996 with the latter granted permission to operate two years later after the founder, Strive Masiyiwa won a grueling court battle with the Zimbabwe government in 1998.
By Shingie Lev Muringi
The very same question can be asked about TelOne, which happens to be NetOne’s sister company in the parastatal family circles. TelOne used to be that untouchable giant with its robust telecommunication infrastructure spanning across Zimbabwe’s urban cities deep down into the rural areas where no other operator had presence during that time.
But like NetOne, TelOne had to find themselves playing second fiddle to millennium new comers, Liquid Telecom Zim who took the Internet Service Provision market by storm in the later part of 2010. Liquid Telecom is now the trailblazer of the market with its retail division ZOL gaining popularity through providing super-fast fiber broadband.
The only convincing answer to how our parastatals lost the game to the vibrant private players was their inability to innovate!! To add another bad spice into that recipe, Zimbabwe had to be poorly blessed with Webster Shamhu as the Minister of ICT in a very defining moment where the world was dynamically changing, with technology taking over industries. Nothing against the former minister but the truth being said, he was not the right man to spearhead such a critical ministry in times when all that was needed was an innovative leader to keep Zimbabwe at pace with the rapidly changing technological demands.
To me, Webster Shamhu did not do any good to our parastatals except that he was a comic leader who enjoyed the political limelight rather than focusing on the merit side of his mandate to develop the country’s critical Information & Communication Technology industry. It will be openly fair to the disadvantaged current generation to say that it was Webster Shamhu who slept on the job where he could have made collaborative efforts to protect the sustenance of parastatals and keep the private player wolves at bay.
However, the fortunes of NetOne and TelOne would soon change in November 2014 when His Excellence – Cde R.G Mugabe appointed Supa Collins Mandiwanzira as the Minister of ICT after serving as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Information.
Hate Hon. Mandiwanzira or love him, but l personally believe for another second time in the history of our digital generation, the President made the right appointment based on merit by making Supa Mandiwanzira a steward of the country’s critical ministry. This came after the merit based appointment of Walter Mzembi as Minister of Tourism & Hospitality. Its a clear record that Walter Mzembi was given his ministry based on excellence rather than a political appointment and up do date, he has never disappointed no matter the current economic meltdowns facing Zimbabwe.
Since he came in office, Supa Mandiwanzira has never made life easy for these parastatals and other private players as well. Yes, he made some very controversial decisions but l want to say they were necessary to inject a new lease of life into NetOne and TelOne.
Brian Mutandiro – the current NetOne MD launching OneFusion last year
It is during this Supa Mandiwanzira era that we witnessed Reward Kangai’s 20yr reign at NetOne coming to an end, a good sacrifice for the young generation because to me, Kangai had nothing more to offer to the digital generation except that he made a NetOne a boring network which only fits the old people. Yet now the state owned mobile network operator has risen to claim a respectable market share through offering innovative services such as OneFusion and OneMusic.
Supa went on to stir another nest at TelOne where his interventions have seen the parastatal getting funding to enroll its national network upgrades under the vibrant MD – Chipo Mutasa. TelOne has rose like NetOne, to start reestablishing itself as a major force to reckon in Zimbabwe’s telecommunications industry.
Presently, TelOne now boast of owning a state of the art data centre which now enables all Zimbabwean enterprises to host their critical data locally at much cheaper prices. It should be remembered that this is a golden legacy which our generation will forever cherish and the phenomenal story is being written during this Supa Mandiwanzira.
Chipo Mutasa – The current TelOne MD who is spearheading the re-branding of the parastatal
TelOne has up to date managed to roll out its national broadband project being bankrolled by the $98m loan facility secured from the ChinaExim Bank last year. This is another project which announced the rebirth of TelOne as an awakened giant, widening its range of services from just offering basic ADSL to offering the latest fiber broadband technology services such as Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH), VSAT and other viable enterprise solutions.
Supa Mandiwanzira on his personal capacity is a tried and tested businessman after founding the now unstoppable commercial radio station ZiFM, Mighty Movies, AB Communications, and other ventures. He is also that man we have seen rising through the ranks from just a business news anchor at ZBC trailblazing his way to join international broadcasters such as BBC, Al Jazeera, Reuters Financial Television, Summit Television, SABC and many other media organizations he has worked with before joining the government.
Some might have many reasons to dislike him but as a passionate technologist in this digital generation, l promise you that we will remember Supa Mandiwanzira for re-baptizing the once dormant and boring parastatals which used to be so poor in terms of decision making characterized by stinking red tape and misappropriation of funds.
