Zimbabwean companies have missed out on the benefits from Econet Wireless US$1.2 billion capital expenditure on procurement of network equipment because they have not the capacity to supply and meet expected quality requirements.

The capital has therefore been directed to products and services that are manufactured outside leaving the local to only benefit from small time jobs such as maintenance of diesel generators where you can get local suppliers. These companies cannot meet quality standards of the bulk of the telecoms equipment Econet required.

Company infrastructure; switches, processors and base station controllers are all not manufactured from the country neither from Africa. Sweden, China have moved in to facilitate the telco. There have been calls to prioritize local procurement of goods and services to improve liquidity and retain money within the country.

To avoid importation of simple material needed by the company, local suppliers have been asked to improve on quality.