{"id":2413,"date":"2026-07-02T10:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T10:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=2413"},"modified":"2026-07-02T10:14:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T10:14:33","slug":"netone-calls-for-ict-tax-reforms-to-accelerate-zimbabwes-digital-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/netone-calls-for-ict-tax-reforms-to-accelerate-zimbabwes-digital-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"NetOne Urges ICT Tax Reforms to Boost Zimbabwe’s Digital Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
NetOne Group Chief Executive Officer Engineer Raphael Mushanawani<\/em><\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HARARE, July 2, 2026<\/strong> \u2013 State-owned mobile network operator NetOne has called for policy and fiscal reforms to reduce the cost of deploying digital infrastructure, arguing that affordable connectivity is critical to accelerating economic growth and strengthening Zimbabwe’s competitiveness amid global economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing delegates at the Mid-Term Economic Review and High-Level Policy Dialogue held under the theme “Reinforcing Economic Stability in the Face of Geopolitical Risks,”<\/em> NetOne Group Chief Executive Officer Engineer Raphael Mushanawani said macroeconomic stability alone was not enough to drive sustainable growth without accelerated digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said digital infrastructure had become as important as traditional infrastructure in supporting economic development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Macroeconomic stability creates the foundation for growth\u2014but digital transformation determines the speed, scale and inclusivity of that growth,” Mushanawani said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing global trends, he noted that a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration can contribute up to 1.5 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), highlighting the importance of expanding digital access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mushanawani said countries that will lead future economic growth would be those with advanced digital ecosystems rather than simply abundant natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said NetOne had positioned itself as more than a telecommunications company by serving as a strategic national infrastructure provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mushanawani, the company has expanded its network to cover between 85 and 90 percent of Zimbabwe’s population, grown its subscriber base to more than four million users and continued investing in network modernisation and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These are not just investments in connectivity. They are investments in national productivity,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that every investment in network expansion should translate into economic expansion by improving access to markets, financial services and digital technologies across key productive sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When we connect farming communities, we enable access to markets, weather intelligence and financial inclusion. When we support mining, we enable real-time data, automation and operational efficiency,” Mushanawani said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said increased digital adoption could improve productivity by between 15 and 30 percent while reducing the cost of doing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, Mushanawani said Zimbabwe’s future economic competitiveness would depend on embracing Industry 4.0 technologies supported by intelligent networks and resilient digital platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said NetOne would continue investing in broadband expansion, rural connectivity and digital platforms supporting health, education and financial inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a company within the Mutapa Investment Fund portfolio, Mushanawani said NetOne viewed itself as playing a strategic role in national economic transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We do not see ourselves as spectators in economic transformation\u2014we see ourselves as architects,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he urged Government to strengthen the investment climate for the ICT sector by reviewing taxes affecting digital infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mushanawani said although some ICT equipment benefits from duty-free status, operators still face a 15 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on imports, varying tariff classifications and inconsistencies in exemptions for broadband infrastructure equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said rationalising these measures would lower the cost of network expansion, stimulate investment and improve access to affordable digital services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed reforms, he said, are consistent with the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), the National ICT Policy (2022\u20132027) and Vision 2030, all of which identify digital infrastructure as a key driver of industrialisation, innovation and inclusive economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The high-level policy dialogue brought together senior government officials, business leaders, development partners and economic experts to assess Zimbabwe’s economic performance and discuss strategies for maintaining stability amid evolving global geopolitical and economic challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fanuel Chinowaita HARARE, July 2, 2026 \u2013 State-owned mobile network operator NetOne has called for policy and fiscal reforms to reduce the cost of deploying digital infrastructure, arguing that affordable connectivity is critical to accelerating economic growth and strengthening Zimbabwe’s competitiveness amid global economic uncertainty. Addressing delegates at the Mid-Term Economic Review and High-Level…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2413"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2417,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions\/2417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}