On the 15th of January 2019, the Zimbabwean government ordered all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to shutdown the internet. This order was a result of public protests which were triggered by a 150% increase in fuel prices. The shutdown was however declared illegal by the High Court of Zimbabwe. What is however disturbing is the fact that the government is not showing any sign of remorse. Speaking during a live radio interview on Capitalk FM recently, the Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential communications, George Charamba justified the government’s actions. In fact, he categorically stated that the government will not hesitate to shut down the internet in future in the event of any civil protest. Charamba made this statement notwithstanding the fact that such action was declared illegal by the High Court. Does the government even care about the rule of law?
Shutting down the internet violates human rights which are enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I refer you to Section 57(9)(d) which provides for the right to privacy and freedom from communication infringements, Section 61 which provides for freedom of expression and freedom of the media and Section 62 which guarantees right of access to information. I will not dwell much on human rights violations.
Besides it being a human rights violation, shutting down the internet has several economic repercussions. Reliance on the internet for day to day activities is now a global phenomenon. According to Hawking (2016), the world is now connected by the internet like neurons in a giant brain. In other words, it is almost impossible for a country to survive without the internet, even for a single day. A recent study by Deloitte concluded that an average low connectivity country such as Zimbabwe loses about 0.4% of its daily Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for each day that internet services are completely shut down. Given that Zimbabwe’s annual GDP was projected at 18.9 billion in 2018, it entails that the country lost $621 370 in potential GDP for the three days when there was complete internet shut down. Put in other words, in just three days, Zimbabwe lost GDP which is equivalent to 3.5% of the Ministry of ICT and Cyber security’s 2019 budgetary allocation.
More so, the Internet shutdown resulted in several businesses losing very important contracts because of their inability to conduct certain vital transactions. I know of a certain Harare company which failed to make a payment for essential raw materials and the supplier has since shifted goalposts. The supplier now insists on payment upfront, something which is very difficult in this harsh economic environment. A lost contract implies loss of revenue and in worst case scenario, it may result in business closures and loss of jobs.
In addition, with many Zimbabwean companies embracing digital methods of doing business, the internet shutdown interrupted communications, access to digital documents and banking services. Of late, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been advocating for the use of plastic money. Point of Sale machines rely on the availability of the internet for them to function. Several people failed to carry out their transactions during the time when the internet was down.
The shutdown also exposed internet users to privacy and security risks since some of them ended up using untrustworthy Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in order to bypass the internet restrictions. Some of these networks allow malicious third parties to snoop through the internet users’ personal data and in some cases they use people’s internet connections to conduct illegal activities on the web.
Furthermore, no serious investor will invest in a country where the government can shut down the internet at will. Shutting down the internet undermines business confidence and has a negative effect on Foreign Direct Investment.
The tourism sector was also not spared. Guests need the internet for hotel bookings and reservations. More so, lack of internet connectivity affects the ability of tourists to discover local services and businesses through the use of applications such as Google Maps and Trip Advisor. I will not be surprised to hear that there are tourists who were forced to change their travelling itineraries as a result of this shut down.
In conclusion, everyone was affected by this shutdown. Think of the lost revenue by the government, the sick who failed to purchase drugs and the general public who failed to purchase ZESA tokens. No one benefited from this brutal act. It is regrettable that the government is promising future internet shutdowns.
Luckmore Chivandire is an Economist, Chartered Secretary, Author and Blogger. He can be contacted at luckmorechivandire@gmail.com.
Lucky's blog 