via Chinese bank grants Zim $218m – DailyNews Live by John Kachembere 25 MARCH 2014
China Exim Bank has granted Zimbabwe a $218 million loan to finance installation of a national mobile broadband network ecosystem, businessdaily has learnt.
Chinese firm Huawei Technologies (Huawei), the technical partner in the project, yesterday indicated that it was ready to roll out the programme, which would be structured to include the retail services sector, the network construction sector, the speed of deployment and open access model.
“We hope we will be able to start the programme in the second quarter of this year, but this will depend on how soon the two governments (China and Zimbabwe) would have signed the loan,” said Wen Mingxuan, the managing director of Huawei Zimbabwe.
Mingxuan noted that the exercise, which is anticipated to stimulate and sustain the general economy of Zimbabwe in the short and long term, will take between two to three years to complete.
“We are busy preparing the ground work so that once the signing is done we can quickly get to work. Due to the nature of the job we are expecting to double our staff complement from 100 to 200 this year,” he said.
Huawei has already implemented 14 national broadband networks globally and recently indicated it was ready to support governments and operators in the region to deploy broadband leveraging on its knowledge throughout the years and ensure economic benefits are achieved.
Market experts contend that the multi-million dollar project is also poised to lure investors in the country’s fast growing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector that has vast opportunities for investment.
In addition to bringing high speed broadband Internet, the setting up of the national broadband network, will help cultivate a new and healthy ecosystem conducive to more cooperation between players such as the government, operator, service provider and customer.
“The resulting drop in communication and Internet connectivity costs will be a relief to many and will effectively make mobile and Internet communication available to more low income Zimbabweans who have so far been left out of such developments,” said Pattison Maseva, a Harare-based ICT expert.
“The establishment of the national broadband network will almost certainly reduce Internet prices although it must be pointed out that in the initial stages of the connectivity, tariffs will be high owing to the need by these companies to return their investments.
But in the long run, Internet, and other telecommunications services which will be based on this linking will drastically fall down,” he said.
According to statistics and analyses from the World Bank, a 10 percent increase in broadband usage translates into 1,38 percent Gross Domestic Product growth. Therefore, broadband gives the best return on investment in telecommunication services.
Zimbabwe’s ICT sector is forecast to grow by four percent in 2014, figures released by Treasury have shown.
Experts say growth in the sector is expected to be underpinned by data and other Internet services.
Mobile companies in Zimbabwe are already diversifying into other services such as mobile money and data platforms to broaden their revenue streams.
COMMENTS
As Australia found out this Chinese company has ulterior motives for loaning the money. And if you don’t have electricity there is no point in broad band. Thirdly if the Internet is monitored what’s the point the CIO will be around to look at anything subversive.
These guys are run and owned by chinese state enterprise, perfect if you want to share every bit of information including state secrets with them, hokoyo Zimbabwe your new colonial master is growling!!
How stupid are ZANU PF? Have they not yet seen or understood the Chinese interest in that country. They want Africa in order to steal its resources and as a dump site for their hugely overpopulated countries excess people. They have the worst air pollution on the planet and have firmly set their sights on one of the cleanest continents. They will, and are, now fouling Africa. Their demand for Zimbabwe tobacco is destroying three hundred thousand hectares of Zimbabwe’s indigenous forests annually. Just one small example and there are hundreds of others but this letter would be way to long if I were to list them all here.
It is a known fact that trade between China and Africa is skewered 90% to 10% in favour of China.They care nothing for Africans. This has been born out time and again in the way they treat Africans, just like slaves. They don’t use the banking systems and contribute very little to the continent. They just take and take. They rub their hands with glee the more corrupt and badly governed a country is. Zimbabwe is a model country for rapid Chinese Colonization. A regime that will hand over every resourse, including their people, in order to retain power. They won’t retain it for long because they have almost sold their resources and souls already. The takeover will be sudden and shocking. Zimbabwe’s government will not have time to wipe the sh_t out of their eyes and it will be all over. They will be lost forever because the yellow people will NEVER give it back to them.
@mena bona; you are angry I can see and read you. So if RGM refuse China money, with other factors unchanged (corrruptioooon, prideeeee, loooooooooting)who else woul give him money? We know very well that belo standard material ll be used! That zhing zhongs will design 2year life material 4 this, saka todiii? Between the rock and the hard ssurface
Yip, look east and only they will feast, look west it is for the best.
I should have added, a Chinese loan to GOZ for a Chinese company in Z and I fear Mark Longhurst is right. Interesting to note how many white zimbo’s care about our nation.
China may be one of the few creditors to ever get paid by ZANU-PF. Of course, the loan will be defaulted the loan but get repaid under the table in other concessions if not diamonds. Regardless, this is just another investment in their new colony. China does not give much aid anywhere.