Cabanga Magazine

After publishing the book in August 2006, I have closely looked at the progress of the book, to see if it is a success in itself. To date, through the book, I have trained more than ten companies and individuals, ranging from Internet Cafes, Internet Service Providers, Web Developers, Students, Marketers, Churches, Pastors, and Entrepreneurs, who have bought a copy of the eBook. The book has sold approximately 25 copies, of which a Website, Training, and Web Consultancy have been born out of "each" Copy. I am currently working as a Consultant with Innov8 - The Motivation Company, where amongst other goals, one of them is to assist the company add on to the ".CO.ZW" sphere, two more websites and blogs, in the ".COM" sphere. Innov8 will be launching www.innov8motivation.com and www.innov8bookshop.com, in October 2007, which are transaction enabled, giving people the ability to buy books and pay for workshop online, using the eTranzact platform. One of the ot...

THE Interception of Communications Act, signed into law by President Robert Mugabe last week, is unconstitutional and can be successfully challenged in the courts, legal experts said yesterday. The government will find it difficult to adequately monitor communications, particularly e-mails and other internet communications, they said. The law authorises the government to set up an interception centre to eavesdrop on telephone conversations, open mail, and intercept e-mails and faxes. But legal experts told The Standard yesterday the law was an unwarranted infringement on people's rights. David Coltart, secretary for legal affairs in the pro-Senate faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the law was unconstitutional and will have serious repercussions on people's rights and freedom of expression. "There is no independent review of any interception of a person's communication," said Coltart. "It (the law) is an unjustifiable invasion of a pers...

Zimbabwean Internet service providers (ISPs) are struggling to install costly equipment to monitor the flow of information in the southern African country, according to online activist Web site Kubatana. President Robert Mugabe formally signed the Interception of Communications Act earlier this month. It enables the government to intercept phone calls, e-mails and faxes with the intention of protecting national security. The law stipulates ISPs are under mandatory obligation to pay for and install the monitoring equipment. “The law now stipulates that licensed Internet access providers and their ISPs must install the lawful interception equipment at their own cost,” says Shadreck Nkala, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Internet Service Provider Association (ZISPA). The Act further states an ISP that fails to provide assistance in terms of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years. Nkala says there is a need for di...

Zimbabwe does not have sufficient numbers of the following facilities, capable of securing consumer confidence: Online Transaction Processing Systems. By this I refer to a simple software application that allows web consumers to purchase goods or services over the Internet, without the use of bank notes. These are more transaction oriented than credit rating oriented. I know of one such innovation, through the Zimbabwe Association of Inventors. One of our members developed an electronic wallet, which is currently going under scrutiny with our Reserve Bank. This product is not a duplication of western technology, but a literal new innovation. When it passes the test, it will transform eCommerce in Zimbabwe. Online Credit Rating. We are one of the few Literate countries which have not been affected or bulldozed by Visa or Master Card, in our credit rating systems. I believe that this is a good thing because it enables the birthing of our own credit rating processing Systems. The good new...

Technology-wise, the world has moved into the Internet Era – birthed in 1995. This has seen the birth of Electronic Commerce (eCommerce). In short Internet means ‘network of networks’, in terms of Information and Communication Technologies. eCommerce, through the Internet and other related technologies, is the bringing of Investors, Employees, Management, Consumers, Customers, Suppliers, Competitors, and Government Departments together in a virtual business environment. 1.1 Globally The Internet is now the widely viewed as the fastest growing communications phenomenon of all time. The comparative chart below places into context the dramatic pace of growth of the World Wide Web (www), a central feature of the Internet for most users. ITU, January 1999 At present the Internet user rate is at an estimate of 300 million, and is expected to reach 500 million in 2005. Revenues are currently estimated at US$1.3 trillion, which are expected to rise to about US$3 trillion by 2005. 1.2 Africa We...

One of the challenges being faced by the local Information Technology Industry is the increasing migration of specialists; leaving for other countries which offer better remuneration and advanced Infrastructures. The following are some of the recreation by players and educationists: a) The Computer Society of Zimbabwe introduced the International Computer Driving License (ICDL), which has taken the market by storm. This course makes it easier for anyone to find an Information Technology related job. b) The Harare Polytechnic (rep of HEXCO) Computer Studies Department has embarked on a campaign to introduce degrees in the next few years to come. The major assistance is from Asian educational and industrial players. c) Occupational training facilities have increased in the past decade. These have majored in products from world leading vendors like Microsoft, Sun, Cisco, CompTIA, Compaq, Caldera and Dell. d) Institutes like SIRDC and AVU (African Virtual University) have introduced cours...

There are five major aspects affecting consumers, which contribute to the success of eCommerce in Zimbabwe – namely Disposable Income, Literacy, Migration, Economic Instability and Technological Changes. 6.1 Disposable Income Most people spend their disposable income on commodities than unique experiences. Others have their disposable income locked up in liability promoting expenditures. This poses a challenge to eCommerce players to create more disposable income, and eventually employment, through their inventions. 6.2 Literacy The 35year and above age demographic group is the most Information and Communications Technologies illiterate; yet the bread winning group. This poses a huge challenge to eCommerce players in educating these income holders. There is however hope in the younger generation, as they are the most literate and also increasingly attaining employment. 6.3 Migration People are migrating to other nations with better living conditions. Our nation is losing an estimate of...

If you have not watched this movie, the moral is that every Midfielder wished they could bend a football into the net or at the feet of a striker, like David Beckham. Question is, “Is this the only way to play winning football?” With this same thought, many Zimbabwean enterprises have adopted styles, structures, and content that they have not engineered, but copied. There is nothing wrong with copying, except when it limits an enterprise to unleash the greatness within them – thumbs up to Milton Kamwendo, on this subject. Beautiful Graphics Many websites in Zimbabwe are “very beautiful”, flamboyant, fully animated, and intriguingly spectacular. Are they successful? I know of a manufacturer whose website I have been trying to open for the past three years. No matter where I access the Internet, I have never seen their website. It has music in the background, and an opening count which reaches 100% but never opens. I tell you the truth, it is better to publish such a website as a .com ra...

Fellow Entrepreneurs, there is something unique about the Zimbabwean consumer, especially on the Internet. We are a nation that has been hit with various pressures – economic, social, spiritual and political. Each time I think about the hardships in our nation, I quickly remember those of USA in the late 1920s and early 30s – the Great Depression. When it ended, USA was never the same. They went into a boom, whose fruit is still being enjoyed to date. The 21st century USA could not have been, without the souls of the early 20th century, who helped transform the nation, by consuming the products and services. There is something about consumers in times of hardships, especially those that stand firm. I believe that knowing that special thing about Zimbabwe consumers will assist you in building a successful website. Literacy Have you ever wondered why it is so easy for Zimbabweans to adapt to new technologies? Notice how mobile phones, computers, satellite equipment, and DVD equipment, ha...

Because the Internet is not an academic priority in most Marketing Programmes in Zimbabwe, Web Marketing has been a nightmare for many marketers, seen by the inability to thrive online as they do offline. My first business mentor is one of Zimbabwe’s top Marketers, who took me up early 2003, when I quit my comfortable IT position at Zimpapers Natprint. I noticed that he was a student of online marketing ever since then, only to take up online business four years after, with a serious innovation, if I might add. I know another brilliant Marketer with more than ten world class food brands at her disposable, yet has only one website – a corporate website, that talks more about the company - Corporate Profile, than the products or its consumers. I will not mention bankers, clothing manufacturers, department stores, bookshops, car dealers, insurance institutes, asset managers, chemists, sports institutes, just to name a few. I love our marketers, but can not stand and watch them be overwhel...

Ko Zvaitasei? Is what my mother would shout out across the corridor, as Isabel, and I fought over one thing and the next. Her concern was harmony and happiness in the home. As my mother’s concern, Ko Zvaitasei, what has happened to Internet in Zimbabwe ? Internet has become a nightmare for the masses of Zimbabwe – Entrepreneurs, Consumers, Marketers, Government departments, and the IT Industry itself. The population of websites in Zimbabwe is less than mire 500, 000, making eCommerce a waste of effort. Those who look after websites, are not playing properly with those who make websites. Those who own websites are not satisfied with what they have. Those who consume website content are not interested with .CO.ZW sites as they are with .CO.ZA or .COMs. What has happened?