by Tawanda Musariri
The Government has set aside one percent of Gross Domestic Product to fund research and investment in intelligent space and geospatial technologies.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa broke the news during the launch of the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA) in Harare today.
The ZINGSA launch was bundled together with the launch of the Zimbabwe National Critical Skills Audit (ZNCSA) and the Zimbabwe National Qualifications Framework (ZNQF).
All the three's mandate dovetail at modelling the country's development trajectory on industrial innovation, invention, research and the patenting and protection of intellectual property rights
Speaking at the debut occasion, which was graced by Ms Turcia Busakwe of the South African Space Advisory Company, President Mnangagwa said Government was dedicating one percent of GDP to this critical industry to catalyse national industrial development. He said world class technological inventions were a must in today's development discourse. To this end, ZINGSA was going to be a vehicle through which scientific inquiries into space and the ground beneath us would be understood and exploited to the benefit of the country.
"We shall tap into Global knowledge trends to modernise our country. The launch of the National Geospatial and Space Agency is hence timely for this dream. Intelligent technologies are an unavoidable necessity in sustainable development," said the President.
Since the country launched the new curriculum and invested heavily in the development of science and technology subjects under the auspices of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects at secondary education level, the new school curriculum also weighed in with the promotion of psychomotor activities to ensure that no learner is left stranded with academics alone while he or she is gifted elsewhere.
"We shall engage into strategic partnerships with our nationals in the diaspora to integrate our technical skills necessary for development into the desired direction for the future. We shall tap into global knowledge trends to modernise our country. The launch of the National Geospatial and Space Agency is hence timely for this dream, continued President Mnangagwa.
Speaking at the same event, Minister for Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development, Professor Amon Murwira said, "The space industry is worth more than $1 trillion. There are Zimbabweans trained & qualified in this area. They are working in the diaspora because we lack the industry for them. Now is the time we are creating an industry for them, so they come back. Zimbabwe is open for new knowledge."
The colourful launch ceremony was attended by stakeholders from the academia, research firms, captains of industry and students.
Professor Murwira said with geospatial technologies, the country would be literate in its full worth in production potential in the mineral extractive sector, agricultural production and other complex production probabilities that are hard to understand in the absence of such technologies.
Today's launch puts Zimbabwe on an ambitious road to the trillion dollar astro physics industry. The same event also puts the New Dispensation under the tutelage of President Mnangagwa, at a highly esteemed global standing for a third world country.
