NATHAN GUMA
ZIMBABWEAN tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo’s audacious bid to clinch an exclusive money-spinning deal with Elon Musk’s ground-breaking SpaceX high-speed, low-cost satellite internet service provider Starlink has fallen through.
Chivayo’s new briefcase company IMC Communications (Pvt) Ltd, located at his Karigamombe Centre offices in Harare, failed to leverage its political connections and influence to get an exclusive deal to supply Starlink’s hardware and associated services to the local market.
Instead, IMC has only been licensed as internet service provider by the Postal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), just like many other companies in that field, and has no exclusive arrangement with Starlink.
After President Emmerson Mnangagwa was roped in to announce in May that Starlink had been licensed and that IMC was the official exclusive partner, Chivayo thought it was a done deal.
However, it emerged that the President’s sons also had an interest on the deal. Besides, Zodsat chief executive Arnold Chimambo had already applied to resell Starlink kits and products in Zimbabwe way back in November last year.
In July, Potraz said there was no company which has exclusive distribution rights over Starlink products and services.
Starlink, a reliable, high-speed and low-cost internet service provider, has been making waves across Africa, offering fast connectivity in countries where services are expensive or inavailable even in the most remote areas.
Zimbabweans scrambled for Starlink before it was officially launched on Friday and even took a risk to purchase full kits from neighbouring countries amid official threats to take advantage of the new technology, which may shake traditional operators that have been robbing customers through extortionate charges for years now.
Starlink is set to cause structural shifts and changes on how internet service connectivity is delivered in terms of logistics, interactivity, cost, scale and reach.
Closely watching the market and smelling easy money from across the Atlantic, Chivayo had quickly taken a first-mover advantage, leveraging his proximity to Mnangagwa to get him to officially announce that Starlink would be coming to Zimbabwe, linked to his IMC getting an exclusive contract with them.
Mnangagwa obliged and announced what Chivayo really wanted on Africa Day, a week after the controversial tycoon had visited him at his Precabe Farm, Sherwood, Kwekwe.
Without going through the minister of ICT and the regulator Potraz, Mnangagwa said on 25 May, a weekend:
“I’m pleased to announce that I have approved the licensing of Starlink by POTRAZ to provide advanced internet and related digital processing services in Zimbabwe through its sole and exclusive local partner, IMC Communications (Pvt) Ltd. Starlink is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite operator wholly owned by global conglomerate Space X led by prominent multi-billionaire Elon Musk.
“The entry by Starlink in the digital telecommunications space in Zimbabwe is expected to result in the deployment of high speed, low cost, LEO internet infrastructure throughout Zimbabwe and particularly in all the rural areas.”
And Mnangagwa then went for gold:
“I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe, to congratulate IMC Communications (Pvt) Ltd and Starlink on this commendable milestone aimed at revolutionizing the digital and communications technology landscape in Zimbabwe.”
From there, Chivayo did not waste time.
He started advertising the service on his social media pages, masquerading as the only Starlink partner in Zimbabwe.
Two weeks later, IMC announced it had hired information technology expert and former ZOL chief executive Denny Marandure as its managing director.
In a statement, IMC said Marandure would oversee the implementation and aggressive rollout and adoption of Starlink internet service in the country.
“Mr Marandure brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, expertise and skills in the ICT industry and is well known for his role as ZOL chief executive officer (the Internet Service Provider of Liquid Intelligent Technologies), where he led the most successful roll out and adoption of Fibre-tothe-home (FTTH) in Zimbabwe.”
All the while, IMC claimed it had exclusive rights to distribute Starlink hardware and services in Zimbabwe on the basis of Mnangagwa’s statement, not a business arrangement with Musk’s global company.
Sources say Chivayo’s capture model was underpinned by his tenderpreneurial mentality and assumptions of leveraging political power for business or money.
A source said Chivayo wanted a deal with Starlink similar to what Malaysian satellite operator Measat has, in which it sells SpaceX subsidiary’s hardware and associated services in the local market exclusively.
Chivayo, the source added, wanted to be Starlink’s only officially authorised reseller or distributor of the company’s hardware and services without competition, making IMC a one-stop supplier to Zimbabweans.
In return, IMC would offer reliable political protection and crony capitalism networks.
“Chivayo moved fast to try to lock an agreement with Starlink to become the exclusive supplier of hardware and service provider, but Starlink wanted to know what IMC was bringing to the table. It turned nothing beyond political support which Starlink is interested in because it has a popular product which sells on its own without political support. This is what Musk is trying to avoid in South Africa, his own original home country.”
Musk, the richest man in the world, is South African-born, although he is American.
While Chivayo is licking his wounds, Zimbabweans are moving to subscribe to Starlink through other means, eager to get connected.
Starlink is now available in the country; a standard kit costs US$350 plus a monthly US$50 connection fee for unlimited internet. A mini kit goes for US$200 with a US$30 monthly charge.
