Percy Chinyama, National Coordinator of the Smart Zambia Digital Transformation Institute, held discussions about potential partnerships in this domain with a delegation from Airtel Africa, which included Oliver Fortuin, CEO of Airtel Business Africa, and Lindiwe Banda, Chief Business Officer of Airtel Zambia.
Currently, the United Nations has assigned Zambia a score of 0.5088 out of 1 on the telecom infrastructure index, which is a part of the e-Government Development Index (EGDI). The government has also highlighted shortcomings in the national digital infrastructure in the ‘National Digital Transformation Strategy 2023–2027.’
These deficiencies include limited investment in rural areas, in stark contrast to the excessive duplication of infrastructure, such as fibre optic networks, found in urban regions. Data from the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) indicate that only 83 out of the country’s 116 districts have fibre optic points of presence.
Additionally, the government believes that Zambia’s current infrastructure is inadequately prepared for emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and the effective utilization of big data.
