Why more people should use scooters in Harare
Posted inMiscellaneous

Why more people should use scooters in Harare

On 22 February this year, I bought a scooter. I have been using it ever since. Well, not every day initially, but now it’s become my primary means of transport. It’s changed how I move around drastically and not a day passes without me thinking to myself; why the hell did I take so long to do this.
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Posted inConnectivity

Mawindi, it emerges, was actually fired from CEO job at Telecel Zimbabwe

The lid is finally starting to come off on the circumstances surrounding Francis Mawindi's sudden 'voluntary' exit from Telecel two months. A report just posted on NewsDay today reveals that the former Telecel Zimbabwe CEO, Francis Mawindi was fired from his job. The official position from Telecel is that Mawindi "decided to pursue other opportunities outside the group", which from this latest revelation is likely not true.
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Posted inConnectivity

Zim Government announces revised MNO license fees; it’s $137.5 million

The Zimbabwean government (and by that we mean the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development) has finally announced what looks like the final position on the mobile network operator license fee increase. It's US $137.5 million and the license is for 20 years. It's an increase from the previous figure of $100m for 15 years.
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EcoCash, Econet ZImbabwe, Mobile Money, Mobile Banking in Africa
Posted inConnectivity

Ditch your bank if they’re not connected to EcoCash, says Econet

Between December 2012 and February this year, Econet announced in quick succession, the integration of its EcoCash mobile money transfer service to traditional banks, allowing EcoCash users to transfer money seamlessly between their bank accounts and EcoCash Wallets. It was CBZ, TN Bank, Stanbic, Agribank then ZB Bank.
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Posted inSocial Media

Barns, the internet, a #263chat TweeT@ble, Baba Jukwa & an election

In October 2009, a few posts into the founding of this blog, we attended a function where media professionals and politicians were discussing "Free Expression and Freedom of the media" in Zimbabwe. We were quite surprised however that in discussing media and expression, no one mentioned the internet or mobile phones.
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Google helps with tablet internet cafe concept trial in Senegal
Posted inBroadband Connectivity

Google helps with tablet internet cafe concept trial in Senegal

Regular internet cafes, no, traditional internet cafes, feel so yesteryear. Yes, customers can come in with their own laptops and tablets for the WiFi, but the cafes still have desktops that they expect the customers to use. An internet cafe in Senegal has decided to put those big machines away and have tablets instead, and Google is helping them trial the concept.
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Samsung Galaxy S4
Posted inConnectivity

Samsung Galaxy S4 now being sold at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has announced that it's now selling Samsung's latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, in its Harare and Bulwayo stores. So far, the price revealed is US $900 cash. Ads in the press and the company's Facebook page say however that payment options are available in the stores.
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EcoCash Paynet
Posted inConnectivity

Econet partners Paynet for EcoCash payroll service (updated)

We just got information that Econet and Paynet, a local payments & payments software company, have partnered to offer a new EcoCash service that will enable companies to pay salaries directly into their employees' EcoCash wallets. The service will likely be announced in the coming days.
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Posted inConnectivity

Mashumba.com will help with English to Shona translations

What is the Shona name for a 'honey badger'? Or the Shona words for the number 10,000? Or how about the other way; how many Shona speaking people reading this know what a mhumhi is? I bet less than half! It's even worse if, like me, Shona is not their first language.
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Posted inConnectivity

Barclays will let you send money to anyone in Zimbabwe via an ATM

Last week, Barclays announced a money transfer service called Cashsend that lets the bank's customers with debit cards send money to anyone in Zimbabwe via an ATM. The service is one of the most innovative to come out of a bank in Zimbabwe and rivals other money transfer services on the market like EcoCash, Western Union and TextaCash.
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