Zimbabwe is to restructure the public broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and make it competitive after embarking on an expensive digitalisation and cost reduction process, officials said.

President Robert Mugabe said in his state of the nation address last week that the government had committed $125 million for the migration of broadcasting platforms in the country from analogue to digital.

The state broadcaster has also rationalised its workforce, trimming around 500 staff this month.

"We are focused on turning around the public broadcaster and digitalise its operations to take it forward as a competitive broadcaster," a government official involved in the process said on Friday, declining to be named.

Mugabe removed outspoken minister, Jonathan Moyo from the Media and Information portfolio and offered him the higher education ministry. He did not name a replacement in a mini cabinet reshuffle some weeks ago, but appointed an acting information minister, Prisca Mupfumira.

"Although the migration process applies to television broadcasting only, Zimbabwe's radio broadcast infrastructure is also being revamped through the same project," Mugabe said.

Officials said the process to transform broadcasting studios in Harare, Gweru and Bulawayo had been okayed and was awaiting funding from the government to finalise.

Under the broadcasting digitalisation process, the ZBC is to establish 25 radio trasmitters. However, owing to fibre connectivity constraints in Zimbabwe, the ZBC had hoisted a satellite link this month.

Zimbabwe is also working on an egovernment program that is expected to ease operations and boost usage of electronic platforms in various departments and ministeries.

China has helped Zimbabwe to establish a High Performance Computing (HPC) Centre at the University of Zimbabwe. The government says the HPC can be utilised for "socio­economic planning, numerical weather prediction, climate modelling" among other things.