Business Reporter
In 1996, a mobile phone in Zimbabwe was a luxury few could imagine. For most citizens, particularly those in rural communities, reliable communication remained a distant aspiration.
Roads were the primary arteries of information, and the idea that a hand-held device could one day serve as a classroom, a marketplace, a bank and a healthcare platform would have seemed fantastical. It was into this environment that NetOne was born, becoming Zimbabwe’s first mobile telecommunications operator and laying the foundation for a digital revolution that continues to unfold thirty years later.
Today, as NetOne celebrates its Pearl Anniversary, the company’s story reads less like a corporate history and more like a chronicle of national transformation. To understand NetOne is to understand something essential about Zimbabwe itself: its resilience, its capacity for reinvention and its determination to build a future worthy of its people.
THE PIONEER YEARS: PLANTING THE SEED OF CONNECTIVITY
When the first NetOne network went live in 1996, Zimbabwe joined a small but growing cohort of African nations embracing the mobile telecommunications revolution. The technology was elementary by today’s standards — voice calls only, limited range, handsets the size of bricks — but the symbolic weight was enormous. For the first time, distance was no longer an insurmountable barrier to communication.
The early years were defined by infrastructure: laying fibre, erecting towers, negotiating spectrum, and training a generation of engineers who would become the backbone of the country’s technology sector. Every base station commissioned represented not just a technical milestone but a community connected — a farmer who could now check prices before travelling to market, a mother who could check on her child studying in the city, an entrepreneur whose small business could finally reach customers beyond the nearest town.
“For the first time, distance was no longer an insurmountable barrier to communication — and NetOne planted that seed across Zimbabwe.”
EVOLUTION: FROM VOICE TO DIGITAL ECONOMY
The story of NetOne over three decades mirrors the global arc of telecommunications itself: from analogue voice, to digital messaging, to mobile data, and now to the immersive connectivity of 4G LTE and 5G. Each technological generation brought new possibilities — and new responsibilities.
Under the leadership of Group Chief Executive Officer Engineer Raphael Mushanawani, NetOne has undergone a remarkable strategic transformation. Where the organisation was once viewed primarily as a telecommunications utility, it has repositioned itself as a strategic enabler of Zimbabwe’s digital economy — a distinction that carries profound implications for how the company invests, innovates and engages with communities.
This evolution has not occurred in isolation. It has unfolded within the broader framework of Zimbabwe’s national development agenda, championed by His Excellency President Cde Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. Through Vision 2030, the National Development Strategies and the establishment of the Mutapa Investment Fund, the Government has created an architecture that positions strategic national assets — among them NetOne — to contribute meaningfully to economic growth, digital transformation and the creation of generational wealth.
NetOne has embraced this responsibility with purpose. Aligning its investments and innovation programmes with the vision of an empowered, prosperous and digitally connected upper-middle-income society, the company has moved beyond connectivity as an end in itself to connectivity as a means of national advancement.
NETONE AT A GLANCE
Founded: 1996 — Zimbabwe’s first mobile operator
Anniversary: Pearl (30 Years), 2026
Network Technology: 4G LTE | 5G rollout underway
Leadership: Eng. Raphael Mushanawani, Group CEO
Strategic Framework: Vision 2030 | Mutapa Investment Fund
Reach: Urban and rural communities across Zimbabwe
International: Roaming partnerships across the region and beyond
CONNECTIVITY THAT BUILDS A NATION
Connectivity, in NetOne’s modern conception, is not a product. It is a platform for human potential. The company’s investment priorities reflect a clear-eyed understanding that the digital economy’s benefits will only be realised if access is universal — not confined to cities, not limited by income, not restricted by geography.
This philosophy animates NetOne’s work across six pillars of national life:
Education. Digital tools in schools, computers for learners and the infrastructure to support distance learning are closing the gap between urban privilege and rural aspiration.
Commerce. Mobile platforms enable entrepreneurs and small businesses to trade, transact and grow, integrating them into the formal economy.
Healthcare. Digital connectivity supports telemedicine, health information systems and emergency response networks that save lives.
Agriculture. Farmers equipped with market data, weather forecasts and financial services via mobile devices are better positioned to increase yields and incomes.
Financial Inclusion. Mobile money and digital payments bring millions of unbanked Zimbabweans into the financial mainstream.
Employment. A growing digital economy creates jobs — directly within NetOne, and indirectly across the ecosystem of businesses, start-ups and service providers that depend on robust connectivity.
“For NetOne, Corporate Social Responsibility is not an obligation. It is a commitment to nation-building.”
COMMUNITY AT THE CORE: A PHILOSOPHY OF INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT
Perhaps the most compelling measure of NetOne’s impact lies beyond technology itself — in the communities that have been touched, lifted and included through the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.
Guided by the principle of leaving no one and no place behind, NetOne has consistently invested in initiatives that improve lives rather than simply improve margins. Across the country, the organisation has equipped schools with computers and digital learning tools, rehabilitated school buildings, installed solar-powered systems for communities without reliable electricity, and established nutritional gardens that promote food security and sustainable livelihoods.
The company has also championed social inclusion through programmes supporting persons with albinism — promoting dignity, raising awareness and creating equal opportunities in communities where stigma has too often closed doors. In parallel, NetOne has taken a leadership role in anti-drug and substance abuse campaigns, helping protect young people and build healthier, more resilient communities.
These initiatives share a unifying philosophy: development must be inclusive. Every learner empowered, every community connected, every vulnerable citizen supported, every opportunity created — each represents a brick in the edifice of a stronger Zimbabwe.
THIRTY YEARS OF MILESTONES
1996 NetOne launches as Zimbabwe’s first mobile telecommunications operator.
Early 2000s Network expansion reaches provincial towns and secondary cities.
Mid-2000s Introduction of mobile data services opens the internet to Zimbabwean consumers.
2010s 3G rollout accelerates mobile broadband adoption across urban and peri-urban areas.
2015–2020 4G LTE deployment begins, transforming the quality and speed of mobile connectivity.
2020–2024 Strategic realignment under Engineer Mushanawani positions NetOne as a digital economy enabler.
2025–2026 5G infrastructure investment begins, preparing Zimbabwe for the next generation of connectivity.
2026 Pearl Anniversary — thirty years of connecting Zimbabwe.
LOOKING FORWARD: THE NEXT THIRTY YEARS
The modern NetOne is defined by innovation, agility and a youthful outlook. It is an organisation that understands, with clarity and conviction, that the future belongs to those who embrace change, invest in technology and place people at the centre of development.
The company’s investment in 5G infrastructure is not merely a technological upgrade — it is a statement of intent. Fifth-generation connectivity will enable smart agriculture, remote healthcare, precision manufacturing, autonomous systems and educational platforms that today exist only in imagination. By building that infrastructure now, NetOne is ensuring that Zimbabwe does not arrive late to the most consequential technological transition of the twenty-first century.
International connectivity remains equally vital. Through strategic roaming partnerships, NetOne keeps Zimbabweans connected wherever they travel — facilitating trade, investment, tourism and regional integration across the African continent and beyond. In an increasingly borderless economy, this global reach amplifies the value of every domestic connection.
As Zimbabwe’s broader Vision 2030 agenda progresses — building an upper-middle-income, digitally empowered society — NetOne’s role as a national enabler will only deepen. The Mutapa Investment Fund’s stewardship of strategic national assets provides a governance framework that ensures the company’s resources are deployed in service of the national interest, not merely commercial return.
“The first thirty years were about connecting Zimbabwe. The next thirty will be about empowering Zimbabwe to thrive in the digital age.”
A NETWORK THAT HELPED BUILD A NATION
There are companies that provide services, and there are companies that shape societies. Over three decades, NetOne has grown into the latter. Its towers are landmarks of connectivity; its platforms are arteries of commerce; its community investments are acts of nation-building.
The Pearl Anniversary is a moment to honour what has been built — and to recommit to what remains to be done. Millions of Zimbabweans still await the full transformative power of digital access. Entrepreneurs still need platforms. Learners still need tools. Communities still need solar power, clean water and the dignity of inclusion in the modern economy.
NetOne enters its fourth decade with a mission that remains as urgent as it was in 1996: to connect more people, empower more communities, unlock more opportunities and drive Zimbabwe’s digital transformation.
This is more than the story of a telecommunications company. It is the story of a network that helped build a nation — and whose greatest contribution may still lie ahead.
