An analysis report by Frost and Sullivan says there is limited usage of e-banking and e-commerce in Zimbabwe, although efforts are underway to bring this tech to the country.

According to a 2011 year-end Zimbabwe ‘All Media Products Survey’, only 1 223 947 Zimbabweans have access to the internet in a country that has about 13 million people. Access is either through mobile phones, internet cafes, at work, at home or at schools.

Zimbabwe’s low internet penetration has forced ICT Minister, Nelson Chamisa to craft an ambitious policy aimed at enhancing the adoption of the usage of technologies in Zimbabwe.

Efforts are also being made to spearhead e-governance and e-learning projects recently launched.

Despite all these efforts however, Gladys Mujuru, an ICT research analyst at Frost and Sullivan has told ITWeb Africa that Zimbabwe has not yet fully adopted usage of e-banking and e-commerce.

“Currently there is limited usage of e-banking or e-commerce. Following the economic woes, which faced the country until 2008, Zimbabweans have been more inclined towards cash transactions,” Mujuru said.

She added that “faith in formal channels is still building up”. Also, “the limited broadband penetration” means that “e-commerce is still in its infancy in the country”.

However, with the government and service providers driving ICT awareness and uptake, Mujuru is expecting an expansion of internet usage beyond social interaction in the future. This is likely to further contribute to the expected uptake of e-commerce and e-banking.

Zimbabwean companies are however coming up with various initiatives to boost e-commerce in Zimbabwe. Mobile operators are partnering with local banks to offer various products through which payments and other e-commerce activities can be undertaken.

“Initiatives such as E-Wallet, Imali and TxtCash offered by various mobile operators in partnership with various banks, have seen modest uptake. Ecocash, offered by Econet is one of the few that has seen huge uptake, with over a million subscribers signing on in the first six months,” Mujuru said.