Techzim

The phrase “there’s an app for that” has been a global catchphrase since the early days of the iPhone. But it wasn’t truly global. In Zimbabwe (and much of Africa) there are still many things we wish someone built an app for. Liker a service review platform where construction people, mechanics etc… are reviewed so good businesses get more business. Like an app to help you find accommodation without paying “finder’s fees” to predatory agents.

Liquid has quietly switched on free public WiFi that gives users up to 4 hours of internet access. If you’re near one of their hotspots, you just need to search for “Liquid Free WiFi” on your phone or laptop and connect. No subscription required. Yes, it appears to be open to anyone. From what we have found out, users get up to four hours of access. What’s not yet clear is whether that’s: Four hours per day Four hours per session Or four hours per device We’re still confirming that part.

Zimbabwe & African tech news, smartphones

The Samsung Galaxy M07 is an entry level smartphone in the same performance spec as A07.

We’ve just received a release announcing a “strategic partnership” that will see CABS launch a virtual Visa card later this month. The card will let customers make online payments without a physical card, all through CABS’s digital platforms. The announcement comes with some impressive-sounding numbers. CABS says it’s now the third most popular Visa issuer in Zimbabwe, with transaction volumes up 195% year-on-year and values up 215%. But let’s unpack what’s actually new here and what isn’t.

Zimbabwe’s private school sector has exploded over the past two decades. , at least 29% of all schools in the country are now privately run, and that’s just counting the formal registered ones. And with more schools popping up, the back-office headache of running them (fees, reports, attendance, communication) is getting worse. Most schools still rely on spreadsheets, paper files, and WhatsApp groups. Fundah is a locally built School Management System trying to fix this.

A Techzim member recently shared that a friend was charged a license fee of USD $100 for an office printer. Shocking yes, but this is part of wider enforcement by the Reprographic Rights Organisation of Zimbabwe (RROZ), a controversial organisation that many Zimbabweans came to know this month, thanks to the reporting of earGROUND.

Econet has appointed Fayaz King to run Econet InfraCo, the new $1 Billion company that will own Econet’s towers, power systems, and real estate when it lists on the VFEX on 31 March. King was Econet’s COO before leaving in 2019 for a senior UN role. Before that he ran telecoms operations across Africa at Airtel and Celtel, and before that he was a senoir executive at Innscor.

So we’ve partnered with Calmlock to let you register .co.zw domains directly on our website here for $5 a year. That’s half what you’d typically pay elsewhere. If you’ve been meaning to get a domain for your business, side project, or personal brand, this is probably the easiest and cheapest way to do it right now. One thing we’ve always wanted to do more of at Techzim is use our platform to connect our community with services that actually make a difference.

Gedion Moyo is one of Zimbabwe’s most prominent fintech software engineers. Through MobiSoft, the company he founded in 2008, he’s built enterprise software for some of the country’s largest financial institutions. If you’ve interacted with financial services tech in Zimbabwe, there’s a decent chance MobiSoft’s work was somewhere in the stack. Now he’s built something very different. Syntheda is an AI-native news platform where AI agents don’t just assist with writing, they run the entire operation.