Techzim

Zimbabwe and regional technology news and updates


Experiencing call drops and dodgy 4G? Don’t blame your service provider. It’s probably your phone.

Many times someone you know is complaining about their phone just not being reliable. Calls just spontaneously drop and network connectivity just falls from 4G to 3G or even 2G without any warning. I remember back in 2015 I bought an LG G4 and it was a 4G capable device. However, when I put my […]


Why are TelOne and ZOL sim cards geolocked?

Geolocking is when a particular service is made available in a particular geographic location. In the case of TelOne and Zol, they do the same thing. But why do they restrict their service? Should all sim cards not work the same way?


Video: HarmonyOS is the future

Harmony OS finally got launched and Huawei plans to have it installed on 300 million devices by the end of 2021. While it’s being seen as Huawei responding to them no longer having access to the full Android and it’s services, it does not exist to just be an Android replacement for Huawei. It’s looking to be more than that. It is probably the future of operating systems.


Video: How Zimbabwe’s ICT space compares to Uganda

In this video we take a look at how Zimbabwe’s telecommunications space compares to Uganda. We look at Mobile operator reventues, subscribers, average revenue per user, mobile money stats and more! Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime amount ($): EcoCash or OneMoney number: Buy Please dial our USSD code *405# […]


Video: ICT space in Zimbabwe vs Zambia

In this comparison we take a look at how the ICT side of Zimbabwe compares to that of Zambia. Zimbabwe has the smallest of leads on the telecommunications side however Zambia had a HUGE lead in mobile money. You can get the details in the video Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to […]


Video: Interview with David Behr, Chief Digital Officer – Liquid Telecom

Techzim sits down with David Behr to discuss his illustrious rise through the telecom industry and how life has changed over the last year. Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime amount ($): EcoCash or OneMoney number: Buy Please dial our USSD code *405# on your phone to buy airtime because […]


Nearly 40% of companies say the transition to remote work was easier than expected

COVID-19 has changed the way we work and a recent survey by Hubstaff illustrates this clearly. Hubstaff surveyed 400 business owners/managers in the US to establish how businesses had adapted thus far and what they intended to do after the pandemic. Hubstaff made the infographic below with their findings. Whilst I’m aware that the context […]


[Video] No. Corona Virus Is Not A Cover For 5G

A message has been circulating on WhatsApp claiming that there is a relation between COVID_19 and 5G. Some even go on to say COVID-19 is a cover-up for 5G health issues. In this video we take a look at what is fact and what is not. Sources: WHO COVID-19ITU 5GWHO Wireless Communication Health Effects Quick […]


Deep Dive Into The Sasai Platform: Part 1 – Will It Work? It’s Simple!

Before I talk about this, I know that this is basically a really late analysis in most of your eyes. And in some ways, it is. Sasai is a platform that was released with fanfare late July although it was officially launched for use on the 1st of August, and it all went downhill from […]


Podcast On President Mnangagwa’s First 100 Days. What Say Ye?

While some are convinced 100 days is not enough to measure any progress, there are some people out there I’m sure who like me think 100 days is a long time to prove to masses that we are in the right direction. Speculations aside let’s work with facts, what positive change have you seen in […]


Developers Say There Are No Jobs In Zimbabwe, Employers Say They Cant Find Good Developers, Are These Statements True?

The answer to the question above is yes and no. This latest paradox has affected this industry. While its true that good developers are hard to find, its also not true that there are not there in Zimbabwe. Excellent Developers are there, the trick is on how to scout for them. Developers on the other and […]


Developers And Employers In Zimbabwe, Your Jigsaw Puzzle Has Been Solved.

Over the years we have heard and seen people complain that this particular commodity is hard to or can’t be found anywhere and we always wonder where have they been searching for it. Case in point,  I was telling someone I can’t find guinea fowls anywhere in Harare, a lady I got to know about later […]


UN Agency Speaks On Alignment Of Digitalization And Development

Written by Shamika N. Sirimanne Director of the Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD With Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg under pressure by the US Congress and greater regulation on data privacy looking ever more likely, swirling revelations about the way in which social media have been used have put the spotlight on the wide implications of […]


Just How Did EcoCash Come To Be So Dominant? Techzim Analyses Their Strategy

We have all watched as EcoCash’s dominance has increased in Zimbabwe to near monopoly levels. The mobile money service has become an essential payment method in this country. Most of us signed up for the service and so were not surprised as details of the dominance were shared. Today, EcoCash has close to 98% market […]


It Looks Like OneFusion Has Been A Failure For NetOne

NetOne, the second largest mobile telecommunications company in Zimbabwe, launched OneFusion, an integrated prepaid package, in June 2016. OneFusion bundles offer some of the best value for money on the market. The comprehensive plans offer users on-net and local and international off-net voice minutes as well as SMSs. Users also get data, some of which […]


Web Development, Potential and You (Part 2): The Value Of Adopting The Bleeding Edge

While writing the previous article about going beyond the “status quo” and actually focusing on improving the quality and worth we have as developers, my plan was to discuss a great deal on the hidden potential of the web and go quite deep on the topic. Turns out, I really like seeing words on my […]


Star FM Prefers The Old Way Of Doing Business To New Technology

Star FM recently made a clear announcement to music artists on their Facebook page and on a flier that circulated on social media saying they do not accept nor will they play any music sent to them via email or any social media platform as they wanted the artist to physically submit their CDs to […]


What I Did When The Internet Went Down In Zimbabwe

So today, the internet went down in Zimbabwe from around 11:45 to 17:17 and this was due to a core platform failure on the Liquid Telecom network which is the backbone of internet service providers in Zimbabwe. I’ve always known that most of what I do for a living severely depends on having internet access […]


We underestimated Cybercrime in Zimbabwe, it’s time to be woke now…

The appointment of a fully-fledged Minister of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Mitigation was met with a lot of scepticism. This was mainly driven by the perceived duplication of responsibilities among ministries, and also by the lack of public understanding of the real threat cybercrime poses. Such a perception threatens to downplay one of the […]


ICT and Telecoms Technological Convergence in Zimbabwe – The Real Issues, Challenges, Threats and Way Forward

I was recently at a function, also attended by Telecoms Engineers and one of the things that really struck me was how these guys really were spot on with what I previously thought to only exist in the “ICT Domain”. My surprise was short-lived though when someone formally introduced us and I realised that this was […]


The number of fixed telephone lines has increased, why?

So according to the POTRAZ Q2 report, active fixed telephone lines increased by 3.7% from 257,626 to 267,034. And since TelOne is a monopoly (literally) in this field, it follows that we can use it to explain these changes. Active fixed telephone lines as far as POTRAZ is concerned, are those that have been used […]


Can you help me, where is the fuel in Zimbabwe?

Those of us who live in Zimbabwe have recently been exposed to a cash crisis that has hit our economy and along with it, an all too familiar era of fuel shortages has started to occur as a result. According to an assessment done by the Financial Gazette, a local business weekly, most fuel stations […]


New campaign strategy: teach people code!

We can’t over emphasise the importance of learning code (biased as we may be) but by taking a look at some case studies of countries like the US and England that are promoting the exercise, you’ll discover that we’re actually justified. Of course we not saying everyone’s professional job should be coding, but we’re saying […]


Do small things matter?

I read quite a number of books (that’s a bit misleading but let’s just go with it) and of late I have been reading a book by Jeff Olson called the slight edge. I’ve learnt a few things that I think would be useful for y’all to know about, especially those who are into building […]


High school kid shares his experience of attending robotics challenge despite coming from tough environment

image credit: VOA interview of Gabriel Matemba Gabriel Matemba is a 16-year-old high school child from Mbare. He learned at Harare High School. At the school which has a robotics club, he was spotted as someone talented in building things and became a part of the robotics team that is representing Zimbabwe at the First […]


Google Chrome to have a built-in ad blocker and how this might affect us

I find pop-up ads highly annoying and not so useful because I tend to close the ad even before I get to read it. In fact, it has become a reflex action but an unhealthy one I must say. I mean who knows what helpful information I’ve missed from the ‘proper ads’ all thanks to […]


Amazon is going to get a piece of almost every pie on the market

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should have heard about Amazon by now. Most of us know it as the company that was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 to sell books online, mainly textbooks for college students. The vision statement for Amazon has been To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can […]


Do people still have privacy in the digital age?

There’s a lot of talk about privacy online and what companies can or cannot do with our data. Now before we start talking about where the line is for the companies, let’s first establish common ground by using similar definitions of what privacy is. Wikipedia: is the ability of an individual or group to seclude […]


Is there something more to Telone switching to prepaid voice services?

Back in February we wrote that TelOne had started expanding prepaid voice service in pilot and then it was available in about 7 areas. Ads being run by the company suggest they have now gone full scale rolling out the service to all landline subscribers. The project has been in the background for about 2 years. With prepaid the […]


Interested in code? Here is a list of coding communities in Zimbabwe

A few days ago I talked about my journey as a self-taught coder. We decided to compile a list of some coding initiatives that are being run in Zimbabwe. The list aims to show people communities that they can join to learn code or discuss code related stuff. If we missed anything, please tell us […]