THE World Bank says Zimbabwe has key fundamentals in place for the development of a digital economy.
Zimbabwe’s cyber driven financial system came under the spotlight at the launch of the country’s digital Economy Diagnostic Report by the World Bank.
The report focuses on the current state of Zimbabwe’s digital ecosystem including its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for future growth.
“The report dovetails well with the Government of Zimbabwe’s thrust of modernising and digitising the economy as reflected in the National Development Strategy (2021-2025). We hope that some of the early findings and recommendations from our analysis fed into the design of the Digital Economy pillar of the NDS. With today’s launch of this report and discussion of its recommendations, we hope to enable stakeholders to contribute further to operationalizing the Digital Economy pillar of the NDS 1,” said Mukami Kariuki, World Bank Zimbabwe Country Manager.
Head E-Government Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Retired Brigadier Charles Wekwete, said the rolling out of close to 200 information centres is part of a wider objective to ensure citizens have access to ICTs for inclusive growth.
“Access of ICT products is government’s top priority and the report has identified key issues and most useful. As part of ethos in NDS1, government consult with NECF. Government has established nearly 200 community information centres to enable individuals to access ICT products and POTRAZ is using money from the Universal Services Fund to extend coverage of mobile networks and fixed networks,” said Rtd Brigadier Charles Wekwete – Office of the President and Cabinet E-government Unit Head.
The diagnostic report is a culmination of a collaborative effort between the World Bank Task Team, the Government of Zimbabwe and other stakeholders in the digital economy ecosystem.
