In this week’s edition of the prime minister’s newsletter (available for download on the PM site) the information communication technology minister Nelson Chamisa says he had “specific discussions and arrangements” with large communication giants like Nokia and Huwaei at last week’s last week’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) summit in Geneva. Unfortunately we won’t know the details until he has advised the cabinet so being the seasoned speculators we are, we’ll let our minds wonder…
What kind of interest would the world’s largest mobile phone maker have in Zimbabwe? Sell phones? They already have a distributor here for that. A plant maybe? Mmmm? The minister hints that he’s “trying to get the ICT companies to come here, not just as distributors, but also to set up assembly plants, provide employment and use our raw materials in the manufacture of the gadgets”. I doubt Nokia would see any strategic value in having a phone making plant here but let’s see how this develops.
Huwaei on the other hand was established in Zimbabwe in 1999 and its telecommunication products have been deployed on a large scale in the networks of almost all telecom operators & some ISPs. It’s easy to imagine them consolidating their position more, growing to become a more visible player and indispensable ingredient of the Zimbabwe telecommunication services.
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