News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa – Issue No 131 on 11 October 2002

ZIMBABWE SPECIAL - ICT SECTOR BUFFETED BY FOREX SHORTAGES AND SKILL LOSSES

11 October 2002

This week’s special report on Zimbabwe looks at how the current political and economic situation is affecting the internet and telecoms sectors. Although the underlying economy remains strong, there is no economic strategy to tackle the current rising inflation and no-one knows how to untie the political knot that will lead to a post-Mugabe era.   ACCELERATING BRAIN DRAIN ROBBING ICT SECTOR OF MUCH-NEEDED SKILLS   The current political crisis and its economic consequences dominate all discussions of Zimbabwe’s connectivity markets. The official US$ to Z$ rate is 1:55. The "parallel market" rate is 27 times as high at 1:1500…