Despite an opening in Zimbabwe’s telecom sector for foreign investment, the country’s struggling economy is making it impossible to attract new investors, according to one telecom official.
Zimbabwe is facing a serious foreign currency shortage that has blocked investment in and development of the telecom sector, said Douglas Mboweni, president of the Telecommunications Operators Association of Zimbabwe.
The association, Mboweni said, is currently negotiating with Zambian authorities to create a favorable regulatory environment that would stimulate investment and growth in the telecom sector.
Although Zimbabwe had made strides in telecommunication investments, he added, the country is now worse-off than many African nations in terms of investments in new technologies and the development of ICT. He offered as an example the fact that mobile phone penetration in Zimbabwe is 10 percent, compared to 40 percent elsewhere on the continent.
The fear by foreign telecom investors to invest in Zimbabwe stems from the country’s regulatory policies, which allow the government to intercept calls, and a decline in the country’s economy, which puts the current inflation rate at over 6,000 percent.
Mobile tariff adjustments in Zimbabwe are made every three months in order for service providers to cope with the hyper-inflammatory environment.
“This is why the association is dialoguing with the regulatory authority to create a favorable investment environment that would stimulate growth in the telecom sector,” Mboweni said.
Zimbabwe is currently under sanctions from Western counties, including the U.S. and U.K., which accuse the Zimbabwean government of gross human rights abuses.
