DEVELOPMENT-TECHNOLOGY: Zimbabwe Cafes into Cyberspace

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Morris Nyakudya

HARARE, May 17 1998 (IPS) - The cafe patrons hunched over their computor desks seem oblivious to the arrival of food and drinks from a trendy restaurant next door. Rather they are intent on getting the most for their dollars from the machines.

Welcome to one of Harare’s internet cafes that have sprung up in the capital.

“We figure that there are people who don’t have a computer, modem, or a phone line handy but who would like access to the internet. We set out to provide this at a profit,” says Nhombi Jacha who handles information for Zimsurf, an internet provider and the parent company of the cafe.

While Jacha says he aims to satisfy mainly tourists and students, a visit to his cafe reveals a mixed clientele.

“I am interested in investing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange but I failed to get the information I wanted from their office. So I decided to visit their website and surprisingly I found the information I wanted,” enthused Simba Madziva.

Madziva, an investor, visits the cafe four times a week and surfs for an hour each visit. He also uses the facilities for sending electronic mail to family and friends overseas.

“It’s cheaper and you have all the time to phrase and ask for the information you need,” adds Madziva.

The charge for sending or receiving an electronic mail is less than one US cent, but to make an international telephone call costs around USD 9 (One US Dollar is equal to 17 Zimbabwe Dollars) per minute. International call charges have almost doubled since the Zimbabwe dollar plunged against major currencies toward the end of last year.

Amall wonder that more and more people wanting urgent communications are using electronic mail.

Most cafes charge adults 90 Zimbabwe Dollars and students 50 Dollars to be on line with the Internet for an hour.

Naomi Printz, an American volunteer, working with a non- governmental organisation (NGO) called “Streets-Ahead” says she has been keeping in touch with her parents through facilities at the cafe. “The postal services are not only expennsive but are pretty unreliable,” she says and notes that her telephone at the office has not been working for several months.

But she has also been using the internet for something quite unusual.

“We are setting up a circus for street children and since it is extremely diffcult to find circus equipment here I have been using the internet to find the closest place to find circus equipment,” says Printz.

Catharine Kanhema-Lesche, a Zimbabwean journalist living and working in Germany describes the cafe as “a home away from home…It keeps me in touch with the whole globe. You have all the newspapers in there and can get messages from friends all over the