Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has pledged Zimbabwe’s full support for the re-election campaign of Dr Cosmas Zavazava, the Zimbabwe-born director of the Telecommunications Development Bureau at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Dr Zavazava, who is based at the ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, paid a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa at State House in Harare yesterday.
He was accompanied by ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister Tatenda Mavetera to formally seek the Head of State’s endorsement for a second term in the influential post.
Speaking to the media after their closed-door meeting, Minister Mavetera said President Mnangagwa’s endorsement would go a long way in drumming up more support for Dr Zavazava in the region and beyond.
“We are very happy that the ITU director-in-charge of telecommunications development is here. He is a son of the soil from Zimbabwe, but he is working at ITU in Switzerland.
“And he came here to seek the support of His Excellency. So this is quite critical because it’s important that he also gets endorsement from the highest office of the State, and just getting that endorsement is enough to get other regional players coming on board.
Minister Mavetera said Zimbabwe was also grateful for the support it has been receiving from the ITU over the years.
The ITU has assisted Zimbabwe in various initiatives, including in its Acceleration Centre, which develops Artificial Intelligence (AI) and assisted in establishing a disaster management office.
“These are very important to the development of telecommunications,” said Minister Mavetera.
On his part, Dr Zavazava said he had discussed the importance of integrating digital systems in Zimbabwe’s sectors with President Mnangagwa.
The director is currently the elected official responsible for projects in 194 United Nations (UN) member states.
“During the discussion with His Excellency, we were discussing the integration of all the sectors in digital.
“So that digital is at the centre of driving the ecosystem and the great progress that Zimbabwe is making in terms of infrastructure, development, regulatory and policy frameworks, as well as innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Zimbabwe has benefited from a plethora of projects that we are rolling out,” he said.
Dr Zavazava said the ITU was now rolling out the Baku Action Plan, which was agreed upon during the ninth World Telecommunication Development Conference in Azerbaijan recently.
“We are mandated to run this kind of conference after every four years to give us a new mandate and we just returned from Azerbaijan, Baku, where we adopted a very ambitious programme that is focussing on investing in affordable rolling out of skills and digital platforms, as well as creating an enabling environment so that investors can come and invest,” he said.
The ITU director said it was also worth noting that Zimbabwe had a conducive investment climate in terms of encouraging international cooperation, resource mobilisation and cyber security, including child protection.
“I think an enabling environment is important. It’s a policy and regulatory and I think Zimbabwe has got a very proactive and favourable environment, particularly now,” he said.
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