Techzim

Zimbabwean launches Whenpages, an event discovery & sharing platform

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:57:07 +0000

A little more than a week ago we received an email from a South African based Zimbabwean called Tendai Joe, whose journey to where he is now has served as a great example of striving and making a difference against all odds. Just to give you an idea, Tendai rose from adversities of living on the streets as a young boy in a small town in Zimbabwe to working with large organisations like Telkom, SABMiller, Vodacom and the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa. His story poses the question “What’s your excuse?” to many of us.

The death of the Zimbabwean music record company; the rise of the Independent artist

Brian Gondo — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:24:11 +0000

So the digital music revolution in Zimbabwe rumbles on with today’s news in The Herald about leading record company Gramma Records active consideration of introducing MP3’s. Emmanuel Vhori, Gramma's general manager is quoted as saying "Recording companies are prepared to give it (their) all, to extinguish the flames of piracy that had literary turned musicians into destitutes." Certainly the proliferation of kudubba (copying) and pirates at places like popular Harare Zimex mall and the Gulf Complex is engulfing the music industry in flames of piracy.

8 days to go before eTXT Apps Challenge deadline. Have you submitted your app yet?

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:15:16 +0000

Developers in Zimbabwe have just 8 days, specifically until next week Friday the 25th, to submit their eTXT apps for the ZeTXT Apps Challenge that has been going on since March. The challenge has presented local developers with an opportunity to develop mobile based applications for the eTXT platform available on the Econet network. The best app will win prizes and an opportunity to be launched on the Econet network to earn the developer ongoing revenue.

PowerTel, Utande and other ISPs also affected by Mozambique fibre cable outage

Staff Writer — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:21:37 +0000

We reported last week that TelOne internet significantly slowed down for several days last week due to fibre cable damage in Mozambique. We’re getting updates this week, that while the problem is now fixed, it’s not just TelOne that was affected by the issue. PowerTel and Utande were affected too, and from what we gather, in a much more severe way.

Lendme Zimbabwe launches, introduces eVouchers

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:25:11 +0000

Lendme, the mobile airtime credit credit startup we wrote about last month, launched officially this week. This means the platform is now available for users in Zimbabwe to borrow airtime. Before launch, users could only register accounts. Lendme works pretty much how it was featured in our first article except for one additional feature; they have introduced eVouchers.

Should Canonical can Ubuntu?

Brian Gondo — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:27:28 +0000

Hands up if you have used Linux in one of its various incarnations for the desktop. Well if you are reading this blog, chances are you have done that. Like many other geeks and aspiring geeks I have dabbled with … Continue reading →

Facebook, WhatsApp & the transition of social networking to mobile

Jabulani Chirinda — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:02:04 +0000

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot talking on social networking, its related technologies and its adoption by users worldwide. Facebook, Google+, Twitter and other similar services are being treated by some of us as true social networking platforms. Some of our colleagues have gone on to separate such services as WhatsApp, ChatOn and other similar services as just Instant messaging or Multimedia Messaging Services.

TelOne Internet slows down after fibre cut in Mozambique

L.S.M Kabweza — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:49:30 +0000

A fibre cable cut in Maputo, Mozambique that occurred on Wednesday 9 May has adversely affected TelOne’s internet services. The problem affected at least all TelOne ADSL users in Zimbabwe whose internet significantly slowed down, with some users not able to access the service at all. According to our sources at Zimbabwe’s sole fixed telecoms operator, after the cut, all its internet traffic got rerouted through existing satellite links, which are much slower than fibre and have limited capacity.

Telecel mobile broadband prices now the lowest in Zimbabwe

Staff Writer — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:02:56 +0000

Telecel this week announced a promotional slash of mobile broadband prices by some 50% in a move that may trigger other mobile operators to respond in a bid to remain competitive. The second largest mobile operator in Zimbabwe now effectively has the lowest priced mobile broadband in the country. Amoung mobile operators that is. The new Telecel charges are still more expensive per megabyte than those offered by internet service providers like Africom and Zimbabwe Online.

Academy launches to provide Zimbabwe film, graphics and creative tech skills

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:09:15 +0000

So what do you do when you find yourself in an environment where specialist skills are rare with the few talented individuals that can provide specific skills not able to deliver on what they not so good at leaving your job somewhat patchy and therefore mediocre at best? What do you when the ecosystem of talented graphics designers, film production professionals, software developers and others that you need for a job is just not there?

Why are Zimbabweans holding their breath for BlackBerry?

L.S.M Kabweza — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:31:45 +0000

I remember when I first heard about BlackBerry around 2005. It was through the prestigious “sent from my BlackBerry” signature at the bottom of an email response I got from a contact in the UK. It was a short response to my rather long email; something to just let me know he had seen the email and would attend to it once he got to his office. I immediately fell in love with it and spent the better part of that day researching on the company and the technology.

Nigerian Federal High Court dismisses Airtel application against Econet

Staff Writer — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:44:43 +0000

A press release just sent out on behalf of Econet announced the dismissal by the Federal High Court of Nigeria Bharti Airtel's application to prevent, pending an appeal, the implementation of a judgement in favour of Econet handed down in January this year. The judgement in question generally requires Airtel to reinstate the shareholding of Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited (EWL), the reversal of all decisions made that Econet didn't participate in since the dispute began back in 2003 and the restoration of the EWL name (the company is called Bharti Airtel now).

Zimbabwean launches startup in Silicon Valley at NewMe Demo Day

L.S.M Kabweza — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:30:32 +0000

One of the young that pitched at last year’s Startup Challenge, a startup competition for Zimbabweans that we ran last year with ZOL, is one called Yose. It was basically mobile telecoms service, that the judges it was very innovative and quite a great business model, but one whose chances of seeing the light of day in the current circumstances (mobile operator relationships needed especially) were very limited.

Econet slashes MMS tariffs by more than half

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:02:43 +0000

In an apparent bid to have more mobile subscribers using the freshly launched Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Econet has slashed tariffs for the service by more than half, from US 15 cents to just 6 cents. The country’s largest telecoms firm made the announcement yesterday to customers via an SMS which read:

TelOne rolls out ADSL Internet in Mutare, Marondera and Gweru

Staff Writer — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:59:15 +0000

TelOne Acting MD, Lawrence Nkala, revealed in an article posted by the Sunday News this week that TelOne has expanded ADSL services to more cities and towns successfully. The new locations that now have ADSL internet are Mutare, Marondera and Gweru. This is addition to Harare and Bulawayo, the capital city and second largest respectively, that have had ADSL since last year. TelOne is also reportedly working to introduce the internet service in Norton, Chegutu, Kadoma, Kwekwe and Victoria Falls.

TN Holdings to launch an online shop

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:35:56 +0000

We’ve received reliable information over the past couple of days that TN Holdings, one of the fastest growing of companies locally, is preparing to introduce an e-commerce platform to enable Zimbabweans to purchase its products over the internet. TN Holdings has interests in financial services, health, furniture and more recently, supermarkets and fast food outlets.

Developers, The eTXT Apps Challenge initial ideas deadline is nigh

Staff Writer — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:13:34 +0000

As you probably already know, the initial ideas deadline for the ForgetMeNot Africa ZeTXT Apps Challenge is near. By the end of this coming Friday, 4 May, all ideas must have been submitted via the eTXT Developer platform to be considered for the challenge.

An internet business working backwards: building a web start-up in Zimbabwe

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:32:14 +0000

We wanted to be online but the Zimbabwean public wanted to pick up the phone. What was amazing was that the reservations number on the website was just above the booking form but they would still prefer to pick up the phone and incur the cost of calling us…

New online business directory launches, uses TelOne directory data

Staff Writer — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:30:19 +0000

The online directory of the Zimbabwe’s sole fixed line operator, is by far one of the most useful websites locally providing business phone numbers and addresses. It’s the go to web destination to locate businesses. But it’s also far from perfect as a tool to connect to businesses, having no way for business owners to update their information, no maps to help with directions, no way to search for a business whose name you don’t know, and information limited to just the addresses and phone numbers.

US House of Representative passes CISPA. Here’s why we should be alarmed

Sam Takunda — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:07:42 +0000

On April 26 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) by a vote of 248 against 168 despite a presidential veto threat and global opposition. Unlike its predecessor SOPA/PIPA which was opposed and didn’t last, CISPA has the support of large establishments such as Facebook, AT&T, Verizon, Oracle, Intel, Boeing, Nokia and many more.

Tech in Zimbabwe and the International Trade Fair (Pictures)

Staff Writer — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:48:12 +0000

The country’s premier business exhibition, the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair ran last week Tuesday to Saturday, and like most business exhibitions of its kind lately, ICT companies and their products continue to be more prominent. It’s clear now more than ever before how much of a central driver to development technology is for individuals, businesses and indeed the wider economy.

Zimpapers introduces Mobile News, an SMS & USSD based news service

L.S.M Kabweza — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:10:06 +0000

Zimpapers, the government owned and largest media house in Zimbabwe by circulation, revealed through adverts in newspapers today the introduction of its SMS and USSD news services that will be launched on the 1st of May.

Why again is ZBC Radio not available on the internet?

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:51:48 +0000

I don’t listen to ZBC Radio much these days, but unlike some content I choose not to consume, with ZBC Radio it’s not because I don’t like the content. I actually love the content very much, especially that SFM channel. The reason I don’t tune in to it is that I can’t. I just can’t access ZBC Radio conveniently anymore.

Google+ via SMS now available in 23 African countries

Staff Writer — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:19:57 +0000

Google announced yesterday that users in 23 African countries can now post to Google+ via SMS. The move is the latest in Google’s efforts to encourage use of their relatively new social network. “We wanted to ensure that Google+ is also available at times when you are not connected to the internet” says the announcement.

Update:The phone is free. The $6,000 is for voice, SMS & data

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:45:37 +0000

We just got some clarification from Econet. Basically their website has incomplete information on the deal. The $6,000 contract part is correct. However the deal is that you get $250 worth of voice calls, SMS and mobile broadband data every month. Effectively this does make the Samsung Galaxy I9000 free, as in free. Here's an image we received to confirm this:

‘Free’ Samsung Galaxy I9000 available at Econet for US $6,000 over 2 years

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:10:04 +0000

Yes, you read that that right. Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is apparently selling the Samsung Galaxy I9000. At least that’s what their website says. A Twitter user @munron43 posted his shock at the prices earlier this afternoon:

More detail from Econet’s results (ARPU, EcoCash, Ecolife, Social…)

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:56:52 +0000

As you may already know, Econet announced its full year audited financials yesterday. We posted a bit about it yesterday but there wasn't much besides the impressive profit figures the telecoms firm continues to post. Today we have more details; information on the company's plans this year, their operation challenges, what they are doing to overcome them, EcoCash uptake, Ecolife, Average revenue per user, their gratitude to POTRAZ and other such.

Google launches Google Drive, a cloud storage & file management solution

Staff Writer — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:40:20 +0000

Yesterday, Google finally launched its much hyped cloud and document management system, Google Drive. The cloud storage service basically makes managing, sharing and backing up files an easier and seamless task as users switch from one device to another. Google Drive is launching with 5GB free storage. Users will need to pay for more storage; about US $2.49 a month for an additional 25GB. It’s gets cheaper as you buy more space.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe annual profit rises 18% to US $166 million

Staff Writer — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:38:20 +0000

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the country's largest telecoms firm, announced today its full year financial results for the period ended February 2012. An update posted by Bloomberg the company's annual profit after tax has risen 18% from US $140.9m last year to $165.7 million this year. Here's a summary of other announcements made at the briefing today:

Get local event updates on FinditFast.co.zw

L.S.M Kabweza — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:24:14 +0000

FinditFast.co.zw is one of the more visible business directory websites in Zimbabwe. More visible as compared to the hundreds of business directory and classifieds sites in the country that is. In terms of content, they have a site that’s much more populated than your typical overnight open source installation. In fact the directory is so populated the content looks like it was imported from another service. But that’s not the point of this article; it’s their events that impressed us. FinditFast arguably has the best online event listings in the country.

Africa mostly not on Facebook, and not on Zuckerberg’s to do list

L.S.M Kabweza — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:31:30 +0000

Is it that Africa is not commercially active on the internet and therefore doesn't matter much in the ad revenue scheme of things? Or are African populations too fragmented to approach efficiently as a market? Is Zuckerberg missing an entire continent of more than 1 billion people whose access to the internet is clearly on a sharp rise?

Zimbabweans losing money to internet scammers

L.S.M Kabweza — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:45:14 +0000

A report carried in the Chronicle, a Zimbabwean daily newspaper, says that many Zimbabweans have fallen victim to internet fraudsters. Without revealing any figures, a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) spokesperson Detective Inspector Augustine Zimbili indicated that cases of Zimbabweans falling prey to fraudsters were on the increase.

Zimbo Jam finally launches new site after one week of down time

L.S.M Kabweza — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:58:24 +0000

Zimbabwe’s most trafficked entertainment and lifestyle news website, Zimbo Jam, is finally back. The site went down on 13 April as the team there upgraded it to a new version. During the upgrade however, things didn’t go as planned; a major component failed, derailing the whole upgrade process.

Almost 3 months later, the Econet VoIP website remains unfixed

L.S.M Kabweza — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:55:44 +0000

When Zimbabwe’s largest telecoms firm launched VoIP services back in January, they launched with a broken website. Broken in that most links were not working and the “Contact Us” page contained the contact information of the company that (apparently) supplied Econet the VoIP system, SysMaster. In short, Econet had forgotten to update the pages with their company information. We posted about it a week after the launch because product launches are sometimes so hectic you don’t always get everything right immediately.

ZOL slashes Wi-Fi hotspot prices. Discontinues free minutes

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:58:47 +0000

Zimbabwe Online (ZOL), the ISP that has the largest number of Wi-Fi hotspots in Zimbabwe, has slashed the prices of its Wi-Fi internet service. The service has effectively become one of the lowest priced internet packages in the country. But the slash is coming with some not so good news; ZOL is killing the 15 minutes free trial it offered customers on its ZOLspots (ZOL hotspots).

Zimbo Jam downed for several days during upgrade

L.S.M Kabweza — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:42:37 +0000

Zimbo Jam, Zimbabwe’s most popular entertainment news and culture website is down. The site has been down since Friday due to a problem that happened during an upgrade to a new version of the website. We got in touch with Zimbo Jam founder Fungai Tichawangana today and he told us that one of the major components of the site stopped working on Friday last week and his team had to spend two days restoring it. “Totally derailed us- as so many other things depended on it,” he said.

Lendme.co.zw will lend you mobile airtime, at no extra charge

L.S.M Kabweza — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:36:40 +0000

Zimbabwe has over the years become a predominantly cash society while mobile communication continues to grow and be pivotal to most consumers in the informal sector. We recognise the inherent burdens airtime pre-payment inflicts on consumers.

Aquiva Wireless secures commercial interconnection with Econet for VoIP

Staff Writer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:07:51 +0000

Two months ago, Artwell Mataranyika the Aquiva Wireless chief operations officer told us their telecoms company would be launching VoIP service by April. He said they were actually ready to launch on the technical front but had to finalize commercial interconnection agreements to with incumbent operators.

How I created and launched a website from the internet café in Zimbabwe, Africa

Guest Author — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:50:34 +0000

After my last interview with a big mining firm, I got fed up. I had gone to many interviews with big companies, and the result was always the same. With unemployment at a staggering 80% , one can imagine the stiffness of the competition , now add corruption and your chances are next to none.

LION2 undersea cable system launches to become Kenya’s fourth cable

Staff Writer — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 08:51:48 +0000

Yesterday, another undersea fibre cable went live in East Africa. The cable, the second Lower Indian Ocean Network submarine cable (LION2) is reportedly now commercially operational LION2 is an extension of the first LION undersea cable and now provides a direct link from Kenya to Madagascar, St. Paul Reunion, and Mauritius, the three countries that were connected by LION back in 2009. LION2 also connects to the island of Mayotte, a France overseas department.

Making diesel out of waste plastic – a SIFE-MSU Project

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:38:33 +0000

Amoung the inspiring presentations made at the event was this project by a BOOST-SIFE Zimbabwe team of students at the Midlands State University (more about the BOOST-SIFE initiative here), which I thought would be great share here. The project is called Gre-Cycling and it’s basically research on a machine that converts waste plastic to diesel.

Zimbabwe International Trade Fair website hacked, taken down

Staff Writer — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:14:43 +0000

We established this morning that the website belonging to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Company, www.zitf.net was hacked. The Zimbabwean company runs the one of the largest multi-sectoral exhibitions in sub-Saharan Africa and is currently preparing for the 2012 annual exhibition to take place in less than 2 weeks.

Zimbile – filling the mobile web gap for African SMEs

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:30:29 +0000

For website development and web companies that rely on heavy internet usage (to push ads), Africa has presents a unique problem and opportunity because of its minimal local content online. For web developers, it’s been how to convince and be trusted by small businesses that having some web presence will deliver and make a difference to their bottom line. It’s not easy to do this especially as the SMEs have to part with some dollars.

SMS, USSD and the mobile web: Zimbabwe is not that country

Sam Takunda — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:06:14 +0000

It was just a few months ago, sitting with the CEO who had moved back into the country after working as a successful starter-up in the US. The interview part hadn’t started and I was shaking a bit (he had come to pick me up in a classy vehicle and drove me to his classy house so yes I’m not used to being so..I don’t know). He was narrating his experiences in the States and how you could earn big from the silliest of apps or nothing from a huge idea. Then he leaned forward, reached in his pocket and brought out a monochrome phone and said “If you want to be big in Africa, you can’t go wrong with mobile. This is the only way. The regular guy knows SMS…[bla bla bla]“. I nodded and shook (50-50). He was definitely not the first to tell me this, and wasn’t the last but I wasn’t and still am not convinced.

WhatsApp says they are no threat to mobile operators

Sam Takunda — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:41:16 +0000

The co-founder of US-based messaging startup WhatsApp, Brian Acton, has denied popular notion that their startup is a threat to mobile operators’ revenues. In an interview with Reuters a few days ago, Acton said that instead, they were helping operators move their customers to data packages which would prove more profitable in the long run; “It’s all about the data”.

Setting up mobile broadband on your PC without an Internet dongle

Guest Author — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:10:06 +0000

You can easily set up a broadband Internet connection on your PC/Laptop in the comfort of your home or while traveling without necessarily paying the price of a new Internet dongle. You might have all that you need in your home, except for one item that will only cost you US $5!

The Daily News website having issues again

Staff Writer — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:01:50 +0000

We received a tip from a reader in the morning today advising us that the Daily News website (www.dailynews.co.zw) was down. So we did the usual checks and indeed it was down. A content delivery network service - used on the site - called CloudFlare was reporting that the site was offline.

EcoCash adds 200,000 more subscribers in a month (Growth stats since launch)

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:56:56 +0000

Less than a month ago, Econet announced that it had connected a million subscribers on its mobile money platform, Ecocash. Yesterday, a Twitter update by the CEO of Pattern Matched, Markus Schorn, revealed that Econet has since signed on an additional 200,000 subscribers to the mobile money service since the March

The internet traffic ranking of Zimbabwe’s news websites (Feb 2012 stats)

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:18:28 +0000

The internet traffic local news websites has never really been measured and talked about in a standard way. The website owners typically just communicate their own traffic stats when they reach a milestone or break a record or just for the sake of selling advertising and these stats are never verified by a third party.

Google makes Africa internet usage research results available

Staff Writer — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:18:42 +0000

Ever wondered what the Internet usage patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa are? What age groups use the internet more; how the women’s internet behaviour compares to the men’s; how mobile compares to computer web access; where internet user connect from or what prevents people from connecting. Well now it’s possible to get an idea…

In just 3 months, Google’s Woza Online publishes 11 200 business websites

Sam Takunda — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:43:18 +0000

In January this year, Google South Africa in collaboration with Vodacom and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) South Africa launched Woza Online, an online business directory whose mission is to help put small and middle sized businesses online. The move has paid off as the company’s Country Manager said at an event that they have published 11 200 websites since launch (their target was 10 000). He also highlighted that there is clearly a strong appetite among SMEs to get online and take advantage of what the web has to offer.

The role of government in fostering an active tech startup ecosystem

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:32:34 +0000

One issue often mentioned in discussion about mobile and the web as platforms for technology entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe is the issue of an environment that doesn’t encourage innovation, and one that doesn’t reward on merit. It is no secret that Zimbabwe has fallen behind other top nations in Africa in harnessing the potential of these platforms for economic development. While adoption of mobile phones and the internet has significantly increased, we still just use these platforms to make calls, access emails, Facebook and for the academics, some research.

Of installing open source software and starting an internet business

L.S.M Kabweza — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:57:43 +0000

Classifieds (and business directories), like Social Networking, are a favourite with local tech startups. Very much so you’d think with all this work addressing the classifieds problem, it’d be solved by now. That an ordinary person would be able to easily post an ad to platform with any device they have and within minutes be getting calls, and hopefully by the end of the day have a couple of serious leads. You know, the way it works when you throw a classified ad in the paper.

Zimpapers’ Sunday Mail website goes down on Sunday

L.S.M Kabweza — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:11:23 +0000

For most of the day today, the website of the Sunday Mail, the most read weekly newspaper in Zimbabwe, was down. We first noticed the website (www.sundaymail.co.zw) wasn't accessible at around 10AM when, on loading the it, it reported: "Database Error: Unable to connect to the database:Could not connect to MySQL". The website was restored sometime in the evening today.

Re-live the Titanic’s story on Twitter

Sam Takunda — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:29:04 +0000

Ever wondered how it’d be having the experiences of the passengers and crew of the Titanic recounted to you as they happened. Told and experienced in ‘real-time’ for you to follow as if they were happening today hour by hour, day by day? Impossible right? Well, not quite. If you have been able to follow in real-time what your friends and favourite celebrities are up to via their Twitter updates, you’ll find this peek into the Titanic story from a different angle quite fascinating.

Zimbabwe’s ICT Month event set for May 2012

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:12:58 +0000

In February, an organisation called Africa Exchange (more about the organisation here) hosted an ICT “Meeting of the Minds” event in Harare where presentations and discussion by Zim’s ICT industry leaders and government officials focused on strategies to develop Zimbabwe’s ICT sector. Part of the objective of the event was to come up with ICT Month, basically a month set aside to raise awareness and launch programmer promoting economic growth of the ICT sector. Well, the plan for the ICT Month was formulated and May 2012 will see some programmes launched.

SA micro-payments startup, ZunguZ, allows money transfer via Facebook

Sam Takunda — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:47:37 +0000

South Africa’s Rob Sussman and Lance Fanaroff introduced (officially) in December of 2011 a cost-free money transfer system that allows anyone on Facebook to transfer money to anyone else on Facebook. The two founders have taken the concept to Facebook’s Palo Alto offices and to prominent banks and financial institutions where they have received the nod of approval.

Kubatana’s Freedom Fone open source project wins award

Staff Writer — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:07:45 +0000

The Kubatana initiated open source project, Freedom Fone, won an award for Innovation in Media technology at a ceremony organized by the Index on Censorship. The award category recognized Kubatana for innovation and original use of new technology to circumvent censorship and foster debate, argument or dissent. The category is supported by popular web giant, Google.

SHA’s first five months – an interview with the founder

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:44:43 +0000

Some five months ago, in November, Webdev, the company behind Zimbabwe’s successful online classifieds site, launched a social network and named it SHA. They were not the first to try social networking locally; there have been many ‘local’ social networks already. All of them open source projects like JomSocial, SHAretronix, BuddyPress, elgg themed for the local audience. SHA’s not much different in that respect, but unlike other such projects, SHA’s is owned by an internet company that already has heavy visibility and multiple platforms to showcase its products in Zimbabwe’s internet space.

Aquiva Wireless and Aptics face major problems with WiMAX

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:24:54 +0000

An update sent out by one of Zimbabwe’s largest internet service providers, ZOL, confirms (what the industry has been saying for about a month now) that Aquiva Wireless and Aptics are having major issues delivering internet via the WiMAX platform. The ZOL update was sent out some 6 days ago and read in part:

“Every Zimbabwean child should be computer literate” says Zim President

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:22:10 +0000

These are the words that the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe said at the launch of the National e-Learning Programme at Chogugudza Primary school in Goromonzi. The Herald, a local government owned daily newspaper, reports today that the new computerization of schools programme will see about 100 schools, both primary and secondary, receiving e-learning tools (computers and education software) under a pilot project.

Presentation: What does it take to cultivate a startup?

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:09:44 +0000

Commenting on the presentation made by ForgetmeNot Africa founder and Director of Technology yesterday, the QnA and the discussion that followed, a tech entreprenur at the event described it as “an eye opener”. It indeed was. And this is why we’re sharing the presentation with you here.

PowerTel expands mobile broadband coverage to catch up to competition

Staff Writer — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:22:15 +0000

We recently got an update from PowerTel the progress the company has been making on the mobile broadband front. The last time we wrote about the company in 2011, they had held an event where they announced they where working to expand the network to cover smaller cities and towns, and that they were preparing to launch CDMA voice services.

eTXT Apps Challenge launch: FMNA founder presents on building successful startups

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:04:07 +0000

Last night, ForgetMeNot Africa launched the eTXT Apps Challenge in Harare at a JumpStart event attended by developers, tech entreprenuers and journalists. While the highlight of the night was the launch of the challenge itself (read more about the challenge here) , we found the presentation by ForgetMeNot Software Founder and Director of Technology, John Carroll, quite inspiring.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce to host ICT symposium

Staff Writer — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:08:01 +0000

You’ll remember that around this time last year, The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) held an ICT Sympiosium. At the event Twenty Third Century Systems spoke about the lessons they learnt expanding into Africa, which we posted here. Well, ZNCC is back with another ICT Sypmposium for 2012 to be held on the 3rd of April in Harare.

biNu reveals usage stats; top biNu apps in top biNu using countries

L.S.M Kabweza — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:13:51 +0000

We got pointed a few days ago to some biNu usage statistics that have been released by mobile platform Australian startup. The stats show the top 10 countries by usage on biNu as well as the top 10 apps in those countries.

Processes in telecoms

Guest Author — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:28:54 +0000

In the previous article we focused on the six prominent areas of Fraud and revenue Assurance in telecoms. You will agree with me that these are just areas which will start making sense if we combine people, technology and processes onto them. The lifeblood and heart of any organization are the processes (how an organization differentiates itself). In this article we will discuss processes in depth.

Have websites forgotten about the masses without “mobile apps”

Sam Takunda — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:38:00 +0000

Whatever you say can and will be used against you. A recent quote from a post on the Google Africa blog reads “[Google:] Making the world’s information universally accessible and useful means making it available to people no matter what device they use”. I suppose in a world where quad-core mobile processors are the headlines it is all too easy to dismiss the group of people who access the web on their phone using Opera Mini and have never caught up with the whole this-app-for-that-purpose craze.

Google Geo Tools workshop set to be held in Harare

Staff Writer — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:27:43 +0000

The MAPA project, an initiative to “make African conservation more accessible and visible”, will be holing a Google Geo Tools training workshop in Harare in May. The purpose of the workshop is to help conservation practitioners in Zimbabwe understand and use Google mapping tools like Google Earth, Maps and Fusion Tables to visualize and share their work online.

The Internet and the declining newspaper readership in Zimbabwe

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:50:15 +0000

Almost a month ago, the Zimbabwe All Media and Products Survey (Zamps) released the results of a quarterly newspaper readership survey that the organisation carries out. The results are the for the last quarter of 2011 and according to reports in the media, the survey results showed that print news readership in Zimbabwe has started to decline. While reports refer to the decline as ‘modest’, the writing on the wall is clear, news consumption as we know it has changed.

The legal risks of having a .com domain

Sam Takunda — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:22:45 +0000

If you have a .com, .net or .org domain you are subject to US domestic laws and jurisdiction. This allows the US government to seize your website or even seek your extradition to USA to stand trial, based on allegations of breaking their laws. You’re also at risk from any mistakes and collateral damage according to an article on New Zealand website The National Business Review. There have been many stories of seizure by the US where foreign websites which violate US legislations were taken down.

Iroko Partners pumps up the volume with $8 million in fresh funding

Clinton Mutambo — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 06:46:42 +0000

Jason Njoku’s one and a half year old outfit has raised the bar for Sub Saharan African startups. Iroko Partners is charging ahead with its vision to put Nigerian entertainment online. Pando Daily published a post yesterday, revealing that the Lagos based startup had bolstered its war chest by way of two $4 million rounds. The funding came from Silicon Valley and emerging market stalwarts, Tiger Global.

Zim police join the cyber warfare

Toneo Rutsito — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:42:28 +0000

The Computer society of Zimbabwe has taken lead in finding solutions to our cyber crime ravaged society but this time, they have asked the Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D) Serious Fraud`s input to find lasting solutions to this new phenomenon.

A brief on the Microsoft Developer Day in Harare

Sam Takunda — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 11:24:11 +0000

Microsoft held it’s much awaited Developer Day two days ago on at the Harare International Conference Centre. It was quite impressive how they catered for techies and non-techies who seemed to be the majority of the attendants. One of the strongest remarks made in the early moments of the event was “In Africa, the challenges we are facing are our biggest advantages”.

Start-up solves Zimbabwe’s change problem with a mobile airtime solution

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:48:06 +0000

Since the adoption of the mixed hard currencies monetary regime in Zimbabwe at the end of 2009, the one problem that has refused to go away is that of change. Retailers just don’t have enough change to give shoppers. It’s the same situation with commuter bus operators, street vendors and just about anyone that sells goods.

MTN Uganda loses billions to mobile money fraud involving employees

Staff Writer — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:11:24 +0000

Ugandan news sources reported this week that African mobile giant, MTN, reportedly lost billions of shillings from its mobile money service in a fraud case involving the operator’s employees. Though information about the fraud and the investigations around it is only surfacing this week, the fraud itself is reported have occurred in 2011.

Nigerian Twitter & Facebook traffic update service nominated for Shorty Awards

Sam Takunda — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:21:58 +0000

Lagos’ traffic guide Gidi Traffic received a nomination for the globally renowned Shorty Awards which recognize the best short format content creators on the Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. In the “Life Saving Hero” award category, Gidi Traffic is up against 399 other nominees with most of them coming from the United States.

Addressing Revenue Assurance in telecoms

Guest Author — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 06:22:01 +0000

According to a market research report released by global research firm, Frost & Sullivan (May 9 2011), Zimbabwe’s mobile communications revenue will reach US $ 1.34 billion by 2016, with 20.1% compound annual growth rate. This is only achievable if these firms consider and monitor tightly the revenue assurance cycle. Let’s look at the prominent areas in depth;

Either Brodacom has poured another US $25 million into the company or…

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:54:06 +0000

You may also have noticed an article in today’s Herald newspaper that’s saying that Brodacom has invested some US $25 million on network infrastructure. The figure reminded us of news we posted almost a year ago that basically said the same thing; that Brodacom (then just Spiritage) had invested $25 million into the network.

ForgetMeNot Africa brings the eTXT Apps Challenge to Zimbabwe

Staff Writer — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:24:41 +0000

Last week we posted that ForgetMeNot Africa has opened up its eTXT platform to 3rd party developers and that the company launched an Apps Challenge in Kenya in partnership with iHub and Safaricom. Well, there’s another announcement this week, more specific to Zimbabwe this time.

Her Zimbabwe goes live

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:10:24 +0000

Last week, we read on iZimbabwe that one of our favourite writers in Zimbabwe, Fungai Machirori, was going to launch a website dedicated to discussing and articulating Zimbabwean women’s issues and experiences. Being one of Zimbabwe’s most insightful writers (yes she is, read her blog), and one who’s already been already writing so much about her experience as a woman means the website is set to deliver quality content, something that you’ll agree is so much in short supply on our local web.

Classifieds.co.zw introduces daily emails to consolidate its leading position

Sam Takunda — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:34:23 +0000

Local classifieds website classifieds.co.zw announced in an email yesterday that they will be introducing daily email digests for all or selected categories depending on your subscription preferences. The move comes at a time when several other websites have sprung up following the successes of classifieds.co.zw and they’ve all come for a chunk of what’s arguably the most trafficked website in the country.

Africom too now offering unlimited calls, for $10 a month

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:40:19 +0000

In what will become the lowest priced voice call deal in Zimbabwe, Africom revealed today that the company is now offering unlimited calls for just $10 a month within the network. The revelation was made on the company’s new website that came online today. Africom’s follows hot on the heels of Brodacom’s almost similar announcement last night, which we posted here earlier. The Africom price, which we have confirmed is a promotion, is $5 cheaper than Brodacom.

Brodacom introduces unlimited calls for $15 a month

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:59:10 +0000

Yesterday, we attended a Brodacom event where the company announced some new services they will be offering. One new product presented, a gadget Brodacom calls a ‘talking modem’, is primarily a wireless internet modem, which really looks like a phone and that indeed can do voice calls. The 'talking modem' is the basis of a more exciting announcement from the company; Brodacom now offers unlimited calls within the network for US $15 a month.

Zimbabwe in top 5 African countries with fastest download speeds

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:20:53 +0000

Current download speeds rankings for Africa by Ookla, show that Zimbabwe is now in the top 5 Africa countries with the fastest broadband download speeds on the continent. Ookla runs the popular internet speed testing website, Speedtest.net, and uses the millions of tests carried out on the platform to show the current global rankings for consumer broadband speeds.

Why mobile operators should consider startup funding in Africa

Clinton Mutambo — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:16:14 +0000

Paul Graham, Founder of the Y Combinator incubation hub once spoke of the ingredients required to create Silicon Valley. He summed it up as a combination of: Rich people (angel or VC investors) + Nerds (talent)

Microsoft to hold a developer day in Harare

Staff Writer — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:24:23 +0000

Microsoft has announced that it will be holding Developer Day in Harare this week. At the event, Microsoft will showcase the latest Microsoft technologies for developers with an intention to build a Microsoft technology developer community in Zimbabwe.

ICT sector investment opportunities in Zimbabwe and Africa

Arnold Matimba — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:02:58 +0000

I recently attended the NEPAD Business Foundation Implementing ICT Projects in Africa Workshop and the Zimbabwe Investment and Trade Conference. It was interesting to note that the message on ICT had a common theme.

#SomeoneTellCNN Twitter backlash in Kenya forces CNN to apologise

L.S.M Kabweza — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:14:02 +0000

A backlash on Twitter by Kenyans accusing US news channel CNN of sensational reporting has forced the channel to apologise to Kenyans and pull down a video report on suspected terrorist bombing that took place in downtown Nairobi. The CNN report portrayed the grenade blasts in Nairobi as “violence in Kenya”, wording that triggered outrage from the tweeting Kenyans.

Econet announces it has reached more than 1 million connected EcoCash users

L.S.M Kabweza — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 08:10:45 +0000

Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe’s largest telecoms firm, announced today that it has surpassed the 1 million mark in ‘connected’ users for its EcoCash mobile money service. The milestone, the company says in the announcement (a thank you to its subscribers), “has been achieved in record time and is the fastest growth of such a service in the world”

If you can’t beat them, just quit: H-Metro is off Facebook

L.S.M Kabweza — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 09:14:50 +0000

This social media thing didn't work for H-Metro. Last month, we reported that H-Metro, an extremely popular tabloid in Harare, was faced with the difficult problem of dealing with a more popular impostor. On Facebook that is. The fake H-Metro Facebook page had 11,379 fans then while the real one was struggling for attention, only managing 3,854 likes, well less than half their impostor enemy.

Huawei holds a mobile broadband show for Zimbabwe telecoms operators

L.S.M Kabweza — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 06:27:58 +0000

Last week, we visited the Huawei Mobile broadband show that ran from 22nd to 29 February in Harare. The show was held for telecommunication services providers in Zimbabwe and it was meant as a neutral platform for Huawei to showcase its product, both end user consumer products and backend infrastructure products.

Event: Discussion on cyber crime in Zimbabwe

Staff Writer — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:03:36 +0000

We just received an announcement from the Computer Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ) for a Cyber crime discussion to be held in Harare next week. The title of the discussion is "Computer-assisted crime and the state of preparedness of Zimbabwe's law enforcement agencies". We think it’s important to attend this one and learn issues from an angle you’ve probably not had a chance to get yet; the Zimbabwe Republic Police angle.

TelOne responds on extent of internet disruption from EASSy cable break

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:50:51 +0000

Earlier this week we reported that the TelOne had been affected by the EASSy cable breakage between Djibouti and Port Sudan almost 3 weeks ago. We sent TelOne some questions on the extent of disruption that the EASSy issue has caused them. We also asked them if some recent ADSL issues were related to the EASSy cable break.

eTXT now app platform as ForgetMeNot Africa launches App Challenge

L.S.M Kabweza — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:13:19 +0000

You’ve probably used eTXT a number of times. If not you then at least someone you chat with on Facebook, on Gtalk or just someone you exchange emails with has used the service from a basic SMS only (no internet) … Continue reading →

Overview of fraud and revenue assurance in telecoms

Guest Author — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:52:54 +0000

In the broadest sense, fraud is “a criminal deception intended to gain money or personal advantage”. Fraud is a big problem for many businesses and can be of various types. Inaccurate credit applications, fraudulent transactions, identity thefts and false insurance claims are some examples of this problem.

Google’s sub-Saharan Africa Head of Communications speaks at Deloitte event in Harare

L.S.M Kabweza — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 07:26:08 +0000

Yesterday we had the opportunity to attend an event organised by Deloitte Consulting in Harare called “The List”. It’s basically a monthly networking event whose purpose is to link the future leaders of Zimbabwe’s top 100 local and international organisations. Usually, there’s a high profile Zimbabwean business person speaking at these events. Business people like Shingai Mutasa, CEO of Masawara and Nathan Kalumbu, the President of Coca-Cola for Central, East and West Africa have spoken at these events.

Hacker who attacked Zimbabwe government websites helped FBI penetrate ‘Anonymous’

Staff Writer — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:19:24 +0000

News organisations and blogs globally are reporting that the hacker responsible for leading attacks on the Zimbabwe government’s (and other countries as well) websites following the Wikileaks stir in December 2010, Sabu (real Hector Xavier Monsegur), was turned into FBI informant when he was arrested in August last and has helped the US government penetrate the Anonymous hacker group.

Simbarashe Mangwende and Farai Rwodzi are not Africom Bosses, says Africom

L.S.M Kabweza — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:27:01 +0000

Africom, one of Zimbabwe’s licensed internet providers, issued a press statement today advising stakeholders to stop referring two Simbarashe Mangwende and Farai Rwodzi as “Africom Bosses”. The statement follows articles published yesterday in Zimbabwe’s daily newspapers in which writers referred to the two as Africom bosses.

Apps4Africa Climate Challenge brainstorming: Learning from the non-geeks

L.S.M Kabweza — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:41:55 +0000

We just returned from the Apps4Africa Climate Challenge brainstorming session that was being held today in Harare. The event is part of the US sponsored climate change app development contest that’s currently running for the Southern Africa region from 1 February to 30 March. The brainstorming session was held to help participants consider the various climate change issues especially from people and organisations that are actively involved in climate change issues.