By Loyd Matare
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda on Thursday took Information Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Tatenda Mavetera to task over her ministry’s plans to establish a new ICT park, warning that the move risked undermining government’s broader digital infrastructure vision anchored on a centralised national data hub.
Mudenda, known for his no-nonsense tone questioned the logic behind what he described as a “fragmented approach” to ICT development.
“Mavetera, while you are still on ICT, you want to start a little ICT park.
“Why? Why? That is defeating the whole idea of one data centre,” charged Mudenda.
“In my conversation with you, I said Google is prepared to fund the government on a centralised hub, not scattered projects.”
The Speaker revealed that tech giant Google, through its Vice President James Manyika, had expressed willingness to back Zimbabwe’s efforts to build a regional digital hub that could serve not only the country but the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC).
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“We agreed that if we put in place enablers which we discussed that hub would serve the whole of SADC,” Mudenda said, recalling prior discussions with Mavetera at a SADC Parliamentary Forum meeting in Victoria Falls.
Mudenda urged Mavetera to align her ICT park ambitions with global trends and to consult the 2025 AI Index Report by Stanford University, which he said provides practical models for private sector participation in digital infrastructure.
“Government can’t do it alone,” he said.
“That report will show you how to relieve Treasury from the fiscal burden by roping in the private sector.”
The Speaker also raised concerns about coordination between universities and industry, arguing that the country’s tertiary institutions were failing to link innovation hubs to real economic sectors.
“You are training architects, engineers but are they linking up with construction or infrastructure sectors? The collaboration is very weak,” Mudenda said.
He applauded Bindura University of Science Education for producing quality laptops and urged the ICT Ministry to source locally instead of importing.
Mudenda further lamented the lack of patent protection for innovations emerging from universities, warning that Zimbabwe was losing intellectual talent to foreign countries.
“Some of our bright boys are being stolen by European countries before they’ve even registered their patents,” he said.
“Those inventions could enrich universities without asking money from Treasury.”
Citing examples from Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Mudenda said Zimbabwe must emulate global best practices by harnessing private investment and protecting intellectual property.
“Let us see a new direction,” he urged.
“We are the foot soldiers of building this country and one of our greatest assets is the asset of the brain.”
