Business
EcoFarmer Boosts Zimbabwe’s Economic Productivity
Strive Masiyiwa, founder of Zimbabwe’s biggest telecommunications company, Econet Wireless, is a firm believer in agriculture. He sees the sector as a lucrative investment focus for companies and a significant contributor to economic growth, boosting commerce and enhancing opportunities for the business sector.
Econet Wireless already has 8.5 million mobile network subscribers and 3 million users for its mobile money transfer platform, EcoCash. It has invested $1.2 billion in the Zimbabwean economy since it was licensed, helping grow both the telecommunications industry and local economies by creating jobs; more than 50,000 if you count both direct hiring and indirect employment, says its CEO Douglas Mboweni.
According to Mboweni, Econet Wireless has also created opportunities for over 20,000 small businesses and has signed on more than 25,000 people as airtime and EcoCash agents. All this growth goes a long way to- wards achieving Masiyiwa’s vision of bettering people’s lives through technology.
The next step in bringing Econet’s motto to life is EcoFarmer, a mobile-based weather-indexed insurance, agricultural information and trade platform. The application aims to boost agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe, help cover farmers during drought periods and inform them about markets for their crops. It could become vital for agricultural planning purposes, as it also serves as a conduit for weather information.
