Today, I attended NetOne’s Online Media Engagement Session at Manna Resort with a simple conviction: in today’s Zimbabwe, whoever understands digital influence understands the direction of the nation.
What unfolded was not a routine corporate breakfast. It was a strategic convergence of infrastructure and influence.
Standing in for NetOne’s Chief Executive Officer, Cde Raphael Mushanawani, the event convener and NetOne Head of Public Relations, Cde Richard Mahomva, framed the conversation with refreshing clarity. He described data as “the fuel and commodity we possess” – a resource not merely to be sold, but to be deployed intelligently. It was a subtle but powerful shift in tone. Telecoms are no longer passive carriers of information; they are architects of possibility.
The Guest of Honour, Cde Nick Mangwana, Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, captured the broader national context. “We gather at a defining moment for Zimbabwe’s digital and media landscape,” he said. Under National Development Strategy 2, he reminded the room, the mission is clear: to build “an inclusive, digitally empowered nation that leaves No One and No Place Behind.” His most striking observation was that online platforms are no longer “the future” – they are “the vital present.”
That distinction matters.
Zimbabwe’s demographic reality means that the majority of citizens consume information first – and often exclusively – through mobile devices. Podcasts, X threads, YouTube interviews, and WhatsApp broadcasts frequently set the agenda before formal bulletins do. In that ecosystem, engaging digital creators is not optional. It is strategic.
The room reflected that new reality. Owen “DJ Ollah” Madondo. Robert Tapfumaneyi. Blessed “DharaB” Mhlanga. Fungai “Kush” Zvirawa. Byron Mutingwende. Godfrey “Chief” Koti. Henry Hakulundaba. Tonderai “Toneo” Rutsito. Influencers with distinct audiences, varied political leanings, and significant reach. Some are sympathetic to establishment narratives. Others are sharply critical. All are consequential.
NetOne’s decision to bring them together under one roof signals institutional maturity. Globally, forward-looking telecom operators have learned that influence ecosystems must be cultivated, not controlled. In India, Jio’s success came not only from cheaper data but from embedding itself into digital entertainment and creator culture. In Kenya, Safaricom’s dominance rests on ecosystem integration – finance, media, mobility, and connectivity reinforcing one another. Infrastructure becomes powerful when it enables content, commerce, and conversation simultaneously.
Cde Mangwana’s remarks aligned with that logic. Investment in online media, he suggested, is synonymous with youth empowerment. In a country where young people are both the demographic majority and the primary digital consumers, supporting online storytelling is part of the national development project itself.
Inside the media industry, transformation is already underway. Elias Mambo, Editorial Executive at Zimpapers, offered a candid account of institutional reinvention. A company founded in 1890, long synonymous with print, has restructured itself around digital imperatives. “We are creating a digital space that is open to the public,” he said, explaining that newsroom roles have shifted toward live editors, digital product managers, and online-first production. The results are tangible – an 11 million-strong digital footprint across platforms.
Yet he was honest about the economics. A single full-page print advertisement once generated thousands of US dollars. Online advertising revenue, by comparison, often “comes in cents.” The implication was clear: innovation must extend beyond content into business models. Diversification is no longer optional; it is existential.
For digital-native creators, the challenge is even more immediate. As one young journalist put it during discussions, data is not a luxury. It is the camera, the printing press, and the broadcasting tower combined. High costs and unstable connections are not minor inconveniences – they are structural barriers to participation.
This is where NetOne’s opportunity crystallises.
If it designs journalist-friendly data packages, strengthens live-stream reliability for public briefings, and invests in provincial digital hubs, it will not simply improve brand sentiment. It will accelerate national productivity. Reliable connectivity multiplies economic activity, democratic participation, and creative enterprise.
Equally important is the decision to engage influencers across the political divide. In polarised digital environments, companies that retreat into comfortable ideological silos diminish their own strategic relevance. Those that build rapport broadly increase resilience. Dialogue does not require agreement; it requires confidence.
Cde Richard Mahomva’s stewardship of the session reflected that understanding. By convening creators rather than lecturing them, NetOne positioned itself as a partner in the digital ecosystem rather than a distant utility provider.
I left the engagement persuaded that Zimbabwe’s telecommunications future will not be defined by towers alone. It will be defined by how intelligently those towers empower voices. Data is infrastructure, yes. But it is also narrative velocity.
In the mobile Internet era, the company that understands both becomes indispensable.
NetOne appears to understand that.
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