A computer assembly plant will be established in Zambia this year in a government initiative that is expected to significantly reduce the costs of the equipment, President Sata has disclosed.
The President says that the plant, to be established in Lusaka, will create employment opportunities and produce low-cost computers available to the majority of Zambians.
President Sata said in his Facebook posting yesterday that the establishment of the plant will be spearheaded by the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA).
“Some of the benefits of the computer assembly plant include: job creation, availability of affordable low cost computer equipment to citizens, as well as value addition through use of some local resources such as copper in the manufacture/assembly process,” he said.
Mr Sata said Government is focusing on promoting e-commerce and use of information and communication technology (ICT) in trade promotion, establishing e-Government services and promoting e-education, e-health and e-agriculture.
President Sata has also said that by the end of this year, the ongoing optic fibre network expansion is expected to cover a distance of 8,000kms from the current 7,385kms.
“These projects will contribute significantly to our goal of narrowing the digital divide between urban and rural areas and thus stimulate socio-economic growth in the country,” he said.
President Sata said Government’s efforts in promoting universal access to ICT services and products to the people will boost job creation and increase productivity in the economy.
He said during 2013, a project was launched through ZICTA to set up 169 GSM sites across the country mainly aimed at providing coverage to unserved chiefdoms and other rural populations.
President Sata said this project is ongoing and is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year at a cost of US$24 million.
“The 169 Towers Project will bring benefits of mobile phone service and other services riding on it such as Mobile Money to more than 200,000 citizens amongst the rural population,” he said.
some more kaponya 90 day promises? We know you now, tell that to your kaponya’s, WE ‘VE HAD ENOUGH>
So why didn’t Sata just fulfill his trip to visit the Indian company who be assembling those junk computers? Infact desktop computers are out-dated, all my nephews at UNZA are asking for Tablets.
Do you honestly think Sata will sit and start typing anything on his facebook page?
Don’t you think that from the shallow and unresearched postings on that page someone like George Chella has been putting those postings on there?
We also want the new constitution. Why are you quite on the issue of the new constitituion?
GOOD. MORE PROGRESS IN ZAMBIA. THIS GOVERNMENT IS VERY PRACTICAL. YES! LET MORE CITIZENS HAVE ACCESS TO COMPUTERS AND IN TURN THE INTERNET. WELL DONE PF.
HOWEVER, IT SHOULDN’T BE ASSEMBLY THROUGH OUT. FROM THE WORD GO- START TEACHING GRADUATES HOW TO MAKE COMPUTERS USING ZAMBIA’S ABUNDANT MATERIALS. THIS CAN BE DONE BY CREATING AN INNOVATION DEPARTMENT IN THAT INDUSTRY ATTACH TO ALL UNIVERSITIES IT DEPARTMENTS AND HAVE STUDENTS AS WELL AS WORKING GRADUATES RESEARCH AND PRACTICE ON INNOVATIONS OF THEIR OWN. BEFORE LONG ZAMBIA WILL BE THE ‘FIRST’ COUNTRY IN AFRICA TO MAKE (AND NOT ASSEMBLE) COMPUTERS.
My memory could be failing me but there was a plan to get schools computerised and interconnected. I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I have every gadget due to my line of work but still see a desktop as useful. My kid is taught on both tablet and desktop and the workplaces are making good use of tablets but still rely on desktops. We are in a transitional period so as long as the plant can in the future be adapted to other platforms, this is not a bad idea. It’s a 2014 project so I think desktops if that is the aim will provide great help for those who otherwise have nothing but can be supplemented by private sector tablet manufacture if we’re ambitious enough to do more than point fingers from a distance…
Sounds a bit more like KK’s oil and diesel from grass crap.
Another wish list item is welcome but just for comedy as usual. He has not yet implemented INDECO he wants to set up an assembly plant. He says he there is no money for the constitution even when donor countries are prepared to fund it because they know that once implemented properly it will guarantee the safety of their investments.
The PF and Sata are trying hard to divert attention from the releasing the constitution and enacting it because they are scared of losing as Mmembe confirmed it.
All these plans indicate how bad a finisher Sata is. He is good at launching projects which then abandoned along the way. He promised the constitution, spent billions on it, but its now abandoned for political survival.
IF SATA & PF IS AS POPULAR AS THEY CLAIM WHY FEAR TO RELEASE THE…
To be honest, Sata knows the “what to do” part of the answers to the questions that most Zambians are asking. However him and his team terribly lack the “how part”. And it is because this short fall that their leadership is in totally shambolic.
Sata and PF popularity is decreasing at lightening speed , thats why they are afraid of giving the draft constitution a go ahead. They know that under the new constitution it will be hard to rig the elections.
PF has now decided to rig the constitution so that general elections will be easy to rig.
@Wanzelu Am now finding that I have to scroll down to get your opinion on these matters, you always deliver your line of thought in a very enlightened manner. Thank you.
Comments:
1. Social media is good but I do not take a president who communicates with the people of his country via Facebook;
2. Why post your ideas on Facebook when you can address the nation on TV or radio? Some people in remote areas need to listen to your ideas;
3. So as not to cannibalise the sale of good quality computers within the country, encourage the private sector to do such business not the government. Attracting foreign investment in this area wouldn’t also be a bad idea for as long as Zambians have jobs. This would also facilitate knowledge transfer.
4. Stop taxing SMEs on computer parts. If you stop, they will diversify into assembling computers.
5. The president shouldn’t be giving us such news. This should come from the Minister of Information or…
My God.low cost again hahaha I wonder quality anyway I can guess from which nation
While I applaud the work ZICTA is doing to connect Zambian Schools, I can’t afford to miss the fact that the president is really having a blast with his facebook account to the point of reviving relic ideas about computer assembly plant.
To be honest, that idea is a dead dog and a little bit of consulting would make the president realise that computer assembly plant is not something worth a presidential announcement or even a mere ministry.
Assembling a computer is no big deal. I have assembled one my self.
What would be worth announcing is scrapping TAX ON COMPUTER PARTS and a lot of young Zambians would jump into this field and take the industry to the next level. Give our kids a chance. They can setup these plants in their backyards
I couldn’t agree with you more. Why have second rate home made computers when the world is moving at such a fast rate. Our biggest enemy in connectivity in Zambia is ZRA. The taxes on communication devices have put us at a real disadvantage. Scrap that tax so we can all afford good computers. Besides computer manufacturing is done by specialized automated robots these days. Thinking this will create employment is a bit off. I advise the president to do more research with people well versed in technology. Unless of course he wants to keep us in the rear view of the whole planet.
In Novermber 2013 Sata looked like GBM, but this year he is very malnourished. Does even go to gym, he to be more active that man.
Wena mushimani nonsencetradamus Can we stick to the subject here.You have serious issues ma againest nibwanji kansi?
May you die before Sata. How can you be so evil all you talk about is Sata’s sickness? Don’t you get sick yourself? May God deliver you if you don’t die before Sata
“Computer assembly plant”, lol. This is the funniest thing I have heard all day.
And this is supposed to be coming from a std 5 that does not even know how to use a computer!!!
Chella, please continue to give us good jokes like this!
PF – a good laugh every day!
All leading computer manufacturers are diversifying to other areas (tablets) due to the drop in demand for the computers and consequent lack of profitability.
Well done.
Better 30 years late than never?
Possibly someone wants to scrap their desk top assembly plant, then, donate to Zambia!
Another idea that will do more harm than good to the private sector.
Is it within the realms of possibility that the markets they sell in to already have desktops and have people looking to buy supplementary platforms? Tablets are new tech with high appeal. Zambia and many other developing nations have barely dented the market of those who need computers. Apple for example are selling their new desktop because they know the strength of the G5 and its dominance of creative and tech design platforms for which a tablet is helpful but limited in capacity and most productive usage requires desktop with the laptop coming a close second over iPad, however they will continue to sell tablets as the tech improves and they figure out ways to make their base users see tablets as less limiting. In the meantime all tablet manufacturers are prepped for growth.
Poor ill thinking Zambians who can’t believe in possibilities….
Thumbs up Mr President, Let it not die as an idea, let it Work to shame the devils, those opposing the idea……PABWATO
Mugabe, are you being sarcastic?
Cha Cha Cha, I fear Mugabe may be serious. He has strayed far from his praise and worship session on sata’s page and stumbled onto here. let me deal with him. ‘Eh, ela, iwe Mugabe, there are looking fro you kuli ka chella ku facebook page yakwa ka sata. Kuno tulaponona mudala waumfwa? Baluka!’
Hahahahahahah, I wonder how many useful *****s have applauded him on his fake facebook site.
DUDE! I was there and it was freaking scary. The praise and worship was deafening and it really made me wonder whether these were real people or maybe those computer programs that generate automatic responses because there is NO way such a multitude of people can express those alarming levels of dullness. And the fact is, the praise and worship singers had one thing in common…. they came from one region.
Dudu it’s the usual nonsence.
I’m one of the people who liked the page. It is so full of praises I wonder how low their IQ is. It reminds me of UNIP, im already tired of the page because you can tell it is the chief praise singer writing. Maybe if they had put some pictures during the trip it would have been better.
Ba President look at construction, construction creates more jobs,come to Asia and learn how Asians are doing it.not ifyo our population is too small to produce cheap stuff.
If it goes to Asia it will need to change hospital
Hear is another relic idea for you to post on your Facebook to generate more likes from your dull followers. Radio assembley plant, if that doesn’t do it try Dildo assembly plant. pathetic
While the establishment of an assembly plant is a welcome idea, government should leave to the private sector or to the soon to be established INDECO or IDC. This is because ZICTA is a regulator and cannot at the same time be an operator. There will be serious conflict of interest. What happens if the plant violets the ZICTA Act, what will be ZICTA’s response. Let Government develop an ICT fund from the licence fees ZICTA charges so that the youth can be empowered through affordable loans to enable them take advantage of such opportunities
@Good Idea, you are wasting your time. This bunch of M0R0NS are much too dull to even understand what you are talking about, although you are absolutely correct.
Try some VERY simple thought and language, possibly in the vernacular, and they MAYBE will slowly start to have some understanding.
These Poof F00LS are mentally retarded, so you have to treat them like children.
It does not matter to these empty tins provided ZICTA has the word technology in it …it fits the role!
Just zero rate all computer hadware and give tax breaks to private industry with free land and a quota of GRZ computer purchases.Computer assembly is a low margin cut throat industry that even Dell is reorganizing and IBM only does mainframes due to tough competition.
These are PF’s ill-conceived and misplaced priorities. Govt must first resolve the crisis it created on health deliveries and the fate of qualified NURSES it wrongly fired. There ate currently too many deaths in our hospitals. Secondly, Govt must develop the agricultural industries – which is the main concrete foundation of development for this country.
The planned assembly of computers will only serve the interests of foreign countries to the disadvantages of our peoples in urban and rural areas. We know that each foreign investor comes into the country with a package of kick-backs for prominent politicians. Yet Zambia needs genuine development for its indigenous populations.
God Hear Our Prayers!
Are they going to be called HP or Dell or they will come up with name of PF. These allucinations are too misplaced. It is cheaper to buy a computer from China than it is to manufacture in Zambia. Do people really think well in PF?… Chela has issues
They will be called “Donchi Kubebe 2016”!
Dead Heroes National Computer
PLEASE DON’T BUY THOSE GOVT ASSEMBED COMPUTERS! They will be preconfigured with spyware to spy on you and report back to Govt all your activities.
You have been warned!
Are you that daft that you can’t deal with malware?!
Be as critical as you want, this is a good project.
Don’t just think for yourself, think about the many people out there including rural Zambia that may not be as privileged as you to own a tablet. Schools especially in rural areas need computers and backup support.
Then all our school children will neglect their studies! They will be too busy reading about PF comedy of errors on Zambian Watchdog!
What about first putting roof on the school, then connecting electricity, then translating software to 73 local languages, then training teachers, then………
If it is not private sector driven, then it is not sustainable
No private investor can go into computer assembly in Zambia! Cost of doing business is high in Zambia, let alone selling computers in Zambia.
it is only immature young people who’re always announcing things on Facebook before telling their parents or family members. Sata’s face book being managed by Chellah is such an immature fb. why announce to the whole world your plans when people in kalingalinga next door to state house don’t know about it? what kind of computers will be assembled?
I doubt if these locally assembled computers will be competitive in terms of pricing. Zambia has high production costs which make it difficult for locally produced goods to compete with imported goods. Well established computer companies like HP and Dell have shifted their plants to China because of low production costs. In addition, it is likely that Zambians would prefer to buy brand names like HP and Lenovo as compared to a locally produced computer with a brand name called PABWATO or DO’NT KUBEBA. The President should have asked IT experts to do a research before making such a decision. The SMEs are well positioned to establish computer assembly plants and run them efficiently. The govt should remove taxes on computer parts and let the private sector set up assemply plants.
umuntu ni critic.. ok guys PF will build a house for each one of you. just email the plan at [email protected]
Now THAT sounds progressive!! I knew this party would come around! Granted I was a strong critic before but with this pronouncement, heck, I’ll be PF for life!! I should have given sata a chance and am sorry that I ……..wait a minute, you’re just messing with us aren’t you? PF is not really going to build a house for each of us and then come to think of it, that email address looks pretty surreal! Ah man, you nearly had me! This means PF is STILL the sh!ttiest thing that ever happened to Zambia…. well maybe you first then PF.
no jokes mudala! its real. email your plans 70 by 70 minimum. on top of that you get a car ..choose from Audi, Mercedes, Lexus or BMW. we not allowing toyotas.
Think of Zambia as a land LINKED country with markets all around us.
ZICTA is a regulator and should have no business in assembling or manufacturing of computers. In case of problems with these computers how does one sue the custodians of the law itself. Please consult and seek others to help. Assembly of computers and other items is a welcome idea but should be handled by small scale businesses so that the industry can grow and create the much needed jobs.
Okay if this is a serious pronouncement, let it be taken to other parts of the country, why do we have to have everything in Lusaka. Kabwe and other towns would be best suited for such a project. Try to decongest Lusaka city by taking some of these projects to other town and create jobs there!
To Muchinga?
The falacy of development… lets build the road going west, no we should take it to the east..
Couldn’t CEEC come up with entrepreneurs to spearhead this should ZICTA really be in this domain?
Philips set up an assembly plant in the late 80’s, when the parts arrived for assembly only 20 TV sets would be assembled when 30 in part where sent,this was due to thiefts of parts,address this before even going there.this facility should be able to make tablets also and form a trusted repair centre for all electrical gajets.Zecta will only help set up and hand over to the managers.I hope nonsencetradamus is clear…
Why should they govt be involved in such things if you want to promote ICT do it through policies – you would be able to create by far more jobs and grow the economy if you relaxed duty on computer hardware, software, laptops, broadband equipment, -smartphones and also reduce the tarriff subscription you increased at the beginning of the year.
These people think we are still in the 60s and only think as far as the next election…go for a working holiday to Kenya and Ghana and see what long term plans they have implemented for this sector- they are literally building ICT business hubs from scratch and positioning themselves for the future.
Zambia deserves better not tired Unipist ideas.
Is there anything to criticize here? Typical of blacks. The problem with us blacks is that we limit ourselves. We just like to receive finished products. Even a noble thing has to be condemned. What is wrong with people? Unless it came from a named political party then it would be okay. You think apple IPAD and samsung tablets just came booooom from no where? It took decades to develop those gadgets. You think villagers can afford IPADS? In fact even here in town, very few people have them. By being cheap, i suppose the president meant that those computers will be affordable and will be able to function and operate normally, ie, you can do word documents, do maths, access internet which are basic tools for a laptop. In Nigeria, they do manufacture cheap laptops. Grow up
You don’t solve problems with the same mind you used to create them.
Wake up! !
Jay Jay you always condemn. We know you. So go ahead and condemn. Unless it was coming from HH.
CNN, here is a simple example for you to understand why ZICTA cannot be involved at this level. For instance there is no way the Judiciary can come up with a law firm so that they can make more extra income or in the name of promoting more jobs. Hopefully this will help you understand the error here.
Will this computer use solar or batteries Mr. President? Looks like this man doesn’t want to give us our constitution, ala.
Is this all that transpired when he met ‘investors’ during the much talked about 14-day ‘working holiday’?
Computer assembly is very easy, infact people are assembling desk top computers in at home. I assembled my desktop computer which i use, however my observation is that computer assembly in Zambia is more expensive than buying from the shops. A good mother board costs costs Zmk600, a process is Zmk1000, a Ram chip is Zmk400, operating system ( windows 7) is Zmk1500 a monitor is Zmk1500, there is a box speakers key board and mouse and production costs. At the end of it all, will produce a computer that is more expensive than an imported one.
I ve seen a GREAT PROBLEM in AFRICANS. We dont value Human Resources. Teach people 2b innovative who can b Zukerberg or Bill gates of Zambia.
Tht PLANT HAS TO B RUN with people with IDEAS NOT finangwa. wake up Zambia.
We need innovators.
As Kabwika said WE will not take your PRONOUNCEMENT SERIOUSLY.
” CONCENTRATE ON BUILTING ONE OF THOSE UNIVERSITIES U VE SAID WITH A FOCUS ON IT” thn I can vote for u in 2016.
For now Viva HH Viva UPND.
Time is running out for PF. These are the last kicks of a dying horse. I can see them coming up with all kind of sweet nothings to bring back the dim voters into the wrecked boat. I had better swim to drier land. Bye bye Perforated Fairly tale.
This is a step in the right direction.I love it.
Which one? Backward, forward, left or right?
Brilliant idea
Which one?
what and which kind of computer is this man talking about. I hope not desk tops but more to the word.
Definition of computer (n)
Bing Dictionary
com·put·er[ k?m py?t?r ]1.electronic data processor: an electronic device that accepts, processes, stores, and outputs data at high speeds according to programmed instructions
2.somebody who computes: somebody who calculates numbers or amounts using a machine
Uko! Running govt made really simple through decrees on facebook.
Oh my god,whats next,spaceflight training or flying to the moon lets do something usefull to better the life of the ordinary Zambian.
The project deserves support. Teething problems are bound to exist but genius finds solutions. Certain advanced countries achieved national computerization using both foreign produced computers and locally produced ones. The procurement policies and practices will seal the fate of public computer assembly in the country.
I just like people who think big and motivate others I like this president of he is great greater than those who boast of papers but never do nothing , this is a step in the right direction let young people wake up and see how far they can further their exploration of the knowledge , thumbs up to our beloved president
this man is very sick & needs medical attention without delays other wise he’ll get mad very soon & these are th signs wake up guys
PF wants to waste national resources on creating White Elephants. computer assembly is done at cottage level and this government wants to spend millions on inaugurations, salaries of CEO, CFO, Directors, HRD, the whole thing will be a failure from the word go.
Leave business in private hands, create enabling environment, through right taxes, efficient use of those taxes (at least 60% of taxes shall be used in improving and maintaining infrastructure than wasting on civil service and state house salaries), efficient service delivery, continuous participation of the masses in critical decisions, law and order.
Results will follow and jobs will be created, not political gimmicks of IDC, snatching business opportunities from private sector and giving to inefficient and corrupt parastatals.