What Is Zambia’s Technology Agenda?

We are a landlocked country that should be leveraging the high number of neighbors for some sort of economic benefit and nothing could be better than being a center of technological advancement.

We are living in a hi-tech world, and truth is we are never going to go back to the Stone Age. Things are going to get more advanced and more competitive. This is why as a nation we must develop a clear practical and pragmatic agenda for our technological advancement especially in science and information and communication technology.

Talking of information and communication technology, I want to kick off this blog by saying that this is one sector that has the potential to bring large and ever increasing amounts of investment. Government needs to put policy in place that will set this sector into fast track motion. We need to think big and to be visionary.

Anyway, that said. It is pleasing to see ZICTA make a stand on fake phones. We cannot continue to be a dumping site for low quality products in Zambia. However, we need to ensure in this country that we pay the right price for these gadgets. We are really ripped off. The starting point is the tax system. The import tax that you pay on these gadgets is ridiculously high. As such the cost is shifted on the buying user.

The cost of a Galaxy Tab P1000 which is GSM capabilities is K2.6m in the United Kingdom. In Zambia that same device is sold at K4.3m in the Samsung Shop at Manda Hill. Zambians are buying this gadget at 100% higher than their counterparts in Europe. This is the case with most gadgets that are brought in from the west or indeed from the east.

This trend has a negative domino effect on the ICT sector and the economy at large. These prohibitive prices means only a few people will afford and hence saturation is low and the prices still up to. What the further means is that we become locked down into the past whilst our friend advance technological.

We need to bear in mind that ICT greatly reduces the cost of doing business and we have to be tactful about our economy if we have any hope of developing as a nation.

Imagine if people have original multimedia phones, they could do their banking on the mobile phone reducing the cost of paper and congestion in banks. If people could have access to Internet enable smart phones they could send their emails and communicate more cheaply and hence more money in their pockets in the end.

If students have access to tablets for instance they can do their research without struggling for internet access in their universities and colleges, or looking for money daily to do their research in internet cafes. You see, the cost of ICT gadgets has impact on the nation in various ways. We need to understand this as fundamental in the 21^st century for education, development, and financial success. As a matter of fact we need to understand it as the epicenter of growth.