The Sunday Mail
Emmanuel Kafe
President Mnangagwa on Wednesday commissioned the Zimbabwe Information Technology Company (ZITCO) Assembly Plant at TelOne in Msasa in the capital.
ZITCO is a joint venture between TelOne, Chinese company Inspur and a Government-owned entity Flushcord Enterprises.
It assembles desktops, laptops, tablets, prepaid electricity meters, smart water meters and other technological gadgets.
Information Communication and Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said the launch of the National Device Assembly would ensure availability of ICTs to the public service and general market.
“Our ministry will work with that of Higher and Tertiary Education; SME’s; Industry and Commerce for the development of ICT sector,” he said, adding that the factory will change the ICT sector in Zimbabwe and save the country foreign currency through import substitution.
TelOne head of corporate communications Mrs Melody Harry said ZITCO is the first-ever ICT plant in Zimbabwe.
“The ZITCO Assembly Plant has already started operating, with the first run of 2500 desktop computers and laptops having already been completed. It is expected that after the commissioning, ZITCO will now be moving towards full production, where a production capacity of at least 50 000 and up to 150 000 ICT units can be achieved annually,” she said.
“This production level will be supported by a staff complement of about 100 in-house, with at least 300 jobs expected to be created in both upstream and downstream industries.”
The partnership with Original Device Manufacturers like Microsoft and certification as an Original Equipment Manufacturer is considered key in assuring originality and quality of ZITCO products.
TelOne is also presently resuscitating its Msasa factory where the plant is housed.
