After celebrating 49 years of independence, it makes you look at how far you've come as a country and how far you've lagged behind your neighbors or the world in general. Everyone who comes from abroad obviously say we're light-years behind in almost every aspect but the saddening reports are those about the countries that surround us. From infrastructure to technology,it seems we focused on the wrong things in the 40 or so years. Even something as simple as graphics on our national broadcaster are from the 50's,blocky and boring. Lack of initiative if you ask me.
As far as technology goes, on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is creating the technology we so crave, Zambia must be at 2 rising at the rate of 1 point every decade. We have the minds (and I say this all the time) to push us up my ranking but don't have companies with either the means or guts to back development of our own technology,whether consumer electronics or software.
A mobile phone manufacturing plant was opened some time back,which is a good start but we need to start supporting this industry. I believe China can open up a doors for us creating our better mobile phones, make computers, laptops, TVs. Building components is not cheap, but the government can take the lead by offering tax incentives to those who set up plants that make/assemble consumer electronics which will in turn make their products cheaper than imports. We wonder why things are cheap in South Africa when the biggest reason is that most of them are assembled there.
It will then fall upon us to buy what we make, cast aside our Samsung phones, home theatre systems and buy 'Zed Tech'. Most wouldn't if the opportunity came, we have been ruined by choice. The demand is there for cheap handsets,its a matter of providing the supply.
The same goes for software, whether business solutions or mobile applications. The next big thing is sitting on someone's computer and is only known to a few because we'd rather buy a payroll system that developed outside Zambia because it looks fancier or download that mobile app from a rounded developer.
Lets make our own (tech) destiny, support our own!!!!
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