The ManicaPost
Kudzanai Gerede
As the country transitions into an integrated modern economy, technology is playing an increasingly significant role to this cause.
Young people are grabbing opportunities and tapping into regional and international contemporary trends fitting these experiences into the conventional ways of doing business in the process luring investment which in the medium term will see the emergence of vibrant Information Technology (IT) ecosystems with the potential to spur economic growth.
Big tech investment and commercially viable start-ups are defining economic fortunes for regional countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa as more entrepreneurs are starting to reinvent business models using latest technologies.
The Economist publication says in 2015, African tech firms received a total of $186 million in funding and this has given many young innovative entrepreneurs jobs and significantly contributed to governments’ treasury departments.
Zimbabwe’s tech sector is still considered to be at its infancy but is however showing growth potential with numerous tech start-ups coming into the fray on the local market such as GetCash, a mobile money and financial services platform recently launched in Harare.
The latest player in tech business is the Hwindi mobile application which seeks to ease the burden associated with the local transport sector setting a strong footprint on the local market.
Hwindi application is a state of the art mobile application for hailing a taxi, ridesharing and tow truck service that has been introduced in the streets of Zimbabwe with its eyes set on exploring the entire Southern African region in the long term in order to address the rising transport problems associated with urban cities.
This is an automated location based smart booking and dispatch platform for taxis and towing trucks and this is all done through mobile smart devices. The app is available for free on Google Play Store for Android based devices and on the Apple Store for iOS based devices.
Hwindi follows similar operations as of the GrabTaxi (Singapore), Uber (International) and G-Taxi (Zimbabwe) mainly, but with extra features that incorporates the social economic culture of the Zimbabwean and Southern African commuters.
With commuters encountering high levels of robberies from unscrupulous taxi drivers, Hwindi provides safety as all taxi operators subscribing to this latest innovation are registered with local authorities hence minimising risk levels.
Passengers can give their rating of the driver which plays a big part in improving the driver’s profile on the application.
Hwindi App has features that show the customer the nearest driver’s profile from their point of location and the billing rate of 50 cents per kilometer and a base fee of US$1 which then approximates total cost for the ride in relation to distance intended to be covered using GPS and the same is to be applied for towing services. There are also statutory fees which are also charged resulting in a distance of 10 kilometers costing an average of US$ 8.00 against a minimum of US$ 10.00 normally charged by taxi operators.
The pricing model is to be agreed between the taxi operators prior to registration in order to bring uniformity.
Analysts have hailed this innovation saying it will be crucial in promoting formalisation in the highly unregulated taxi industry as the more people subscribe to such platforms unregistered operators will soon find business hard to come by given the high risk perception associated with unknown taxi operators.
With just 2 months since its operation, Hwindi mobile application has managed to garner over 2 000 subscribers who are formally registered transport operators.
“I came up with the idea after travelling across the world and seeing how other countries are doing,” Hwindi Pvt Ltd founder and business development executive Patrick Manyangadze told Business Post in an interview.
“We are introducing (STAERA) safety, technology, affordability, efficiency, reliability and accountability into the taxi industry. We hope to spread our services across Africa and to become the best taxi service application,” he added.
He said the market response has been overwhelming in the first 3 months since their inception and there is room for expansion as the company hopes to offer new innovative products that relates to the everyday challenges of urban life.
He however factored out high costs of internet and unreliable data connection as the major challenge affecting players in the IT sector.
“The challenges we are having are data and network issues. Data is still pricey and in some areas we are experiencing bad network and this is taking a toll on our business,” he said.
With the country’s mobile operators still engulfed in a bitter war over infrastructure sharing, analysts say the cost of internet and universal quality connection will remain a challenge for tech start-ups to fully penetrate the local market.
This is being exacerbated by high tariffs and other statutory obligations which are very costly.
POTRAZ, the country’s telecoms regulator is working with mobile telecoms companies to set up cheaper prices for mobile broadband that will ensure affordable internet access in the short term.
Last month Chairman of POTRAZ Ozias Bvute in response to questions related the impact of high cost of internet on tech innovations at a breakfast dialogue for Zimbabwe ICT Innovators Fund which was spearheaded by POTRAZ and the Ministry of ICT said they were in the process of directing operators with regards to a minimum price that would ensure internet is affordable.
The sector is however posed for greater heights with promising tech ecosystems comprising of start-ups, innovations, hubs and pitch events being cultivated across the country following foot prints of success stories from Kenya and Nigeria.
Currently, Bulawayo is hosting a regional festival and tech meet up called TechFest that will be running from 15th-19th of November 2016.
