Category Posts: Miscellaneous

Renewable energy is a sector on flux. Global greats like Google have risen to the challenges imposed by global warming and rising demand for energy through investments in sustainable power sources. Solar City is one such company that has benefitted from the energy race; Google has invested $280 million so far in the company. For the sake of continuity let’s think of Econet as our local equivalent of a Google of sorts; in such a scenario Econet Energy has a very solid shot at becoming a regional energy titan.

Since TrustCo terminated the Econet agreement some 2 weeks ago, TrustCo hadn’t spoken about the issue. It is Econet Chairman, Tawanda Nyambirai, who gave the Econet side of the story which basically amounted to: TrustCo demanded more money than was due to them, spammed Econet subscribers, threatened to terminate the agreement when Econet complained about all this and when Econet called their buff, they backed out but Econet wouldn’t have it.

As you enter Harare’s CBD, a couple of massive billboards scream for your attention. They form a key part of Econet’s goliath advertising blitz. We spotted something missing from this particular ad, and thought of it as a great way to hold a competition.

Zimbabwe’s erratic energy supplies are a stumbling block for the proliferation of ICT to propel the economy. The country is dependent on its neighbours for fuel supplies and owes mammoth debts to regional electricity producers. It has also not kept up with rest of the world’s quest to find sustainable energy sources. Fossil fuels are key culprits of global warming and finite in the sense that they are running out.

It happens all the time; a comfortable status quo gets disrupted by new convenient ways to go about doing everyday things. For people benefiting from the status quo, this usually means having to somehow find a way to play the new game. But dealing with change when it threatens your livelihood is not always an easy task.

According to ForgetMeNot Africa’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeremy George, the company is already processing hundreds of thousands of eTXTs a day from Zimbabwe just two weeks after launch on the Econet network. Approximately 35% of those are SMSs initiated from mobile phones to the Internet.

Jeremy George revealed this to Techzim in an exclusive interview we had with him yesterday.

Of the new electronic classifieds platforms to emerge in Zimbabwe’s during the past few years, Dipleague and classifieds.co.zw stand out and have achieved relative success to Zimbabwean internet users.

It’s common knowledge in Zimbabwe that to get some meaningful response for a classifieds advert you cannot afford to ignore the 2 platforms. And unlike traditional newspaper classifieds posting adverts on these platforms is free.

We first heard about Luke Madzedze at the Research and Intellectual Expo at the University of Zimbabwe some 4 weeks ago. At the expo, we saw some desktop and Java mobile applications whose development was attributed to the young man. We arranged to meet Madzedze and finally did last week in Harare.

We just received an invitation from Econet to attend the launch of a new venture called Econet Energy. The launch is today in Harare. The Econet Wireless Zimbabwe CEO, Douglas Mboweni, will make a presentation at the launch. Here’s an excerpt of the invite:

Normally we like to keep clear of non-technology issues. It allows to focus and write about the things we know best. People at Telecel (or just people with interests in Telecel) however keep spending generous amounts of time generating news on the other side of the line. And it clearly affects the technology side of things at Telecel.

Some 3 weeks ago, we posted that nominations were underway for the inaugural Zimbabwe ICT Achievers Awards. The awards ceremony was held last night at a hotel in Harare. This year’s ICT achievers were announced and recognized for their shining contribution to the country’s ICT sector.

We share below the IT excerpt of Zimbabwe’s 2011 National Budget Statement presented on 25 November 2010 by Zim Finance Minister Tendai Biti.

Over the months since we started this blog, it has grown from a small blog followed by a few people that know us personally, to one followed by thousands of Zimbabweans worldwide and viewed thousands of times each day. Resultantly, when we don’t post anything for several days, people notice and send us emails.

Some time, not too long ago, I had the opportunity to pass on some advice to a young software developer. He sought my opinion on a decision to move from his employer to a new company.

We came upon (what remains of) this chopper while driving in the city today, and thought we would take a few shots for those of you that haven’t seen it yet. The homemade helicopter sits conspicuously outside the Exhibition Park in Harare, probably its final resting place.