ICT seen as a catalyst for economic growth
Malawi government says it is considering Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as key to the country achieving more sustainable development in the years to come.
Minister of Information, Malison Ndau, said this when he presided over a graduation ceremony of over 200 students from National College of Information Technology (Nacit) in Blantyre.
Ndau said in the past, the sector was neglected as it was deemed not useful to economic growth.
“Today ICT is a catalyst of economic growth and it is for this reason that the government is taking ICT issues seriously.
“We are now investing more in the sector as we realise the importance of the sector in developing the country,” he said.
Ndau said improvements in ICT sector can have positive ripple effects in other sectors such as education and agriculture, among others.
He said Malawi being agriculture based economy, with most farmers being from the rural areas, the government has introduced a number of interventions to improve the
sector in the rural areas.
“The government is building telecentres in rural areas where farmers can get information on various crops, prices and markets. Apart from that, we are also promoting the introduction of smart centres,” Ndau said.
Ndau further advised the graduating students to keep abreast with the fast changing global ICT trends to position the country competitively on the world stage.
“Use the skills you have acquired to engage in entrepreneurship and help the government in creating jobs,” he said.
One of the main sponsors of the event, Godka Technologies, a local ICT firm, said the country is making strides in the sector.
“The world is now a global village and everyone is getting connected through ICT. We can say that Malawi is now growing in terms of ICT as more and more technologies are being developed. This has helped us to move fast in the ICT sector.
“However, the sector is facing a number of challenges as competition is high on the local market,” Mtamba said.
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