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Zimbabwe's president commissions ICT Project
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
November 20, 2005

http://allafrica.com/stories/200511211075.html

Zimbabweans should aim to produce better agricultural yields than last year's following the onset of the rainy season while those with access to dams should utilise these water resources to help ensure that the country produces enough grain to feed its people, President Mugabe has said.

Speaking at the commissioning of an information and communication technologies (ICTs) project at Kutama Day Secondary School in Zvimba, Cde Mugabe said if rains permit, the country should seriously direct efforts towards producing higher yields.

The President pointed out that Zimbabwe was renowned throughout the continent for its diligence, adding that this should be manifested in deliberate efforts aimed at improving agricultural production.

He highlighted that although the country had experienced devastating droughts in the last three agricultural seasons, Government was still determined to provide food relief to the affected people.

Yesterday's ceremony saw Cde Mugabe commissioning a broadband radio link project, which was set up by a Zesa subsidiary, PowerTel Communications.

The link, comprising a fibre optic cable network, will help to electronically connect the community with other sectors in the fields of education, health, agriculture and Government through ICT specifications. Similar initiatives would also be expanded to cover different parts of the country following premiere in the rural centre.

Cde Mugabe said while it was critical to provide electricity to rural communities, providing latest ICT advancement would help bring development to the remote communities in a world that is fast developing into a global village.

Such initiatives would also bridge the digital divide between urban centres and rural settings, an innovation that could also contain rural-urban migration.

Cde Mugabe expressed gratitude to China for the US$110 million line of credit for the Rural Electrification Programme. The first phase of the project, valued at US$22 million, has already been concluded.

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