By DERRICK SILIMINA
LUSAKA-based economist Chibamba Kanyama has urged youths in Zambia to take advantage of the information and communication technology revolution if they are to benefit from meeting the needs of industry.
Mr Kanyama has counselled in an interview that young people ought to strategically position themselves in the advent of ICTs and use the sector as a platform to create value for companies.
“I would urge youths out there to deepen their level of positioning themselves in ICTs revolution, and look at the needs of the industry so that they use ICT as a platform to create value for companies,” Mr Kanyama says.
He explains that it does not matter which company because the good part of ICTs was that, one can develop tools, programmes that the market may either need directly, be they individuals or larger organisations.
Mr Kanyama, who is a former Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) director-general, notes that ICTs help create efficiencies in organisations that deliver services to their clientele.
Young people can therefore exploit the boom in ICTs to develop tools that will enhance efficiencies in the country.
And Mr Kanyama identifies the arts industry as another huge opportunity that young people can harness and thus better their livelihood.
He explains that the market for the arts is not Zambia only but global as it is a multi-million dollar industry.
Despite Zambia’s abundant creativity in arts, especially among the youths, they lack skills and craftsmanship to help perfect what they want to sell.
He encourages youths to consider enrolling in trades schools for mentorship to ensure that they produce goods and services that are of international quality.
“So, in a nutshell, entrepreneurship on one the hand is forced on young people and if they find jobs they abandon their businesses; but on the other hand for many it is a response that will change their future forever as it is also out of need and they will never look back.”
Recently, Government through its Smart Zambia initiatives identified ICT as a major driver for socio-economic growth.
In line with the Smart Zambia Master Plan and the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), Government through the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has in the prior years commissioned Huawei to build 204 towers across 10 provinces in Zambia.
It was envisaged that by the end of 2018, Government would have funded a total of 1,009 towers across the country. – Courtesy of SUMA SYSTEMS.
Easy said than done if you have not had a good meal. People like him under estimate the level of poverty in Zambia. Go and look at Zambian literacy index from 1990 to now then come say that
The internet should be filthy cheap for ICTs to flourish. Till then, we shall only write about those ICT children-of-ministers who have settled in other developed countries.
This chap is honestly way too shallow, his quests to come across as intellectual are just so pathetic, he is nothing but a snob! A one year stink in economics doesn’t make one an authority in the field.
How did the Startimes story end?
In the land of the blind, a one eyed person is the king….Anyone can provide professional advice even a clown like Chibamba…
A silent mouth is a symbol of wisdom.
The internet should be filthy cheap for ICTs to flourish. Till then, we shall only write about those ICT children-of-ministers who have settled in other developed countries.
A silent mouth is a symbol of wisdom.
The majority of local SMEs in Zambia are still struggling to keep the ink in their books blue, and while at it maintain the traditional way of doing things. Even in instances were entrepreneurs create an actual need most SMEs still maintain that ICT services and solutions are expensive and/or not for them.
Yes, the ICT industry has the potential to transform a lot of things but only when it’s embraced will it actually transform lives.
Been there, doing it but more still needs to be done. All that we need is to support homegrown solutions.