By Conrad Mwanawashe
CHIKOMBA WEST — In a dusty ward far from the nearest referral hospital, a mobile network signal is starting to mean something more than a phone call. It could mean a diagnosis. It could mean a consultation with a specialist a villager would otherwise never see. This is the quiet but ambitious bet NetOne is making as it turns 30: that connectivity, properly directed, can close some of the oldest gaps in rural healthcare.
The state-owned telecoms operator marked its 30th anniversary with the launch of a Medical Outreach and Telemedicine programme in Chikomba West, a project that moves beyond network expansion into something more targeted — using mobile infrastructure to bring doctors, diagnostics and health information to communities that have long been out of reach of Zimbabwe’s formal health system.
From bars on a phone to bridges to a doctor
Speaking on behalf of NetOne at the launch, Public Relations Manager Ernest Magadzire framed the anniversary not as a victory lap but as a reset of purpose. “Thirty years of connecting Zimbabwe is not simply a milestone to celebrate; it is a responsibility to build on. At NetOne, we believe the true value of connectivity is measured by what it makes possible — a child accessing knowledge, a community accessing healthcare, an entrepreneur reaching a market and a citizen accessing essential services.”
That shift in emphasis — from coverage maps to outcomes — is the throughline of NetOne’s next chapter. As Magadzire put it, the company is “moving from simply connecting people to connecting people to possibilities. Through technologies such as telemedicine, we can use the network we have built over three decades to bring essential services closer to communities and help address challenges that matter most to Zimbabweans.”
Telemedicine — using mobile networks and digital platforms to connect patients with health workers remotely — has the potential to compress distances that would otherwise take hours or days to travel, turning a phone or a connected device at a rural outreach point into a channel for real-time medical guidance.
A minister’s endorsement, and a national policy hook
Government has been watching this convergence of telecoms and health with interest. Minister of Information Communication Technologies, Postal and Courier Services, Tatenda Mavetera, attended the Chikomba West launch and applauded NetOne for demonstrating how telecommunications infrastructure can be leveraged to address real-life challenges and accelerate national development.
The initiative also plugs directly into the country’s broader development agenda. It advances the aspirations of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030, which places technology, innovation and inclusive development at the centre of Zimbabwe’s transformation — and it drew recognition for Her Excellency the First Lady, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, Patron of Health, for her continued advocacy for the health and wellbeing of Zimbabweans.
Why partnership matters more than infrastructure alone
Crucially, NetOne isn’t attempting this alone. The Chikomba West outreach was delivered in partnership with ZimSmart Villages, under the company’s Health and Care and Connecting Communities pillars — an acknowledgment that network towers and SIM cards can only go so far without healthcare expertise, logistics and community trust layered on top.
That collaborative model is deliberate. Bringing together government, telecommunications providers, healthcare professionals, development partners and communities allows each party to contribute what it does best — regulatory backing, network infrastructure, clinical skill, funding and local knowledge — to build solutions that actually fit the needs on the ground. For NetOne, the lesson is that no single institution can fix rural healthcare access alone; it is when public and private sector strengths converge that technology becomes a genuinely powerful tool for inclusive development.
Connectivity as a development strategy, not just a product
What makes the Chikomba West launch notable is not the technology itself — mobile-enabled telemedicine is not new globally — but the framing NetOne is giving it as it enters its fourth decade. Rather than treating health outreach as a corporate social responsibility side project, the company is positioning telemedicine as a core expression of what a national telecoms operator is for in a developing economy: turning infrastructure into impact.
That ambition is captured in NetOne’s own framing of the moment — a celebration of where the nation has connected from, and a statement of where connectivity can take Zimbabwe next. The company says its next 30 years will be defined by a deeper purpose: to transform every connection into an opportunity that uplifts lives, strengthens communities, and drives national progress.
NetOne at 30: Connecting Zimbabwe to a future of possibilities. The World In One.
