The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

The University of Botswana (UB) plans to set up a Software Development Hub on campus before Christmas this year.

This was revealed by Vice Chancellor Prof David Norris Thursday, August 19^th during the signing of a Memorandum of Action (MoA) between the University of Botswana and Infinitech, an indigenous software development company at the UB Council Chambers.

Infinitech, represented by Managing Director, Mooketsi Nthathe, himself a technology entrepreneur, invests in software that promotes financial inclusion as well as digital inclusion.

Expounding a little on the software development hub, Prof Norris said his excitement about the project was borne from the fact that some two days ago (Tuesday) they had met with a consortium of three companies that expressed a desire to work with UB students to develop software applications.

He said not only is this consortium looking to develop Apps but it also intends to manufacture some of the gadgets like phones, laptops, and others in the university.

It is for this reason that Prof Norris is “very happy” that Mr. Nthathe and his group will also be resident in the software development facility that “we shall be opening in the next six (6) months or so”.

So, these are exciting times for the University of Botswana as they fit like a hand to glove with the transformation journey that UB has embarked upon and with the implementation of the new strategy which places a premium on research and innovation in respect of every activity that the universities undertake.

Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Finance, and Administration Lopang Mosupi echoed this sentiment in his welcome remarks, saying it is ideal that time and again the University must enter into such agreements (MoUs) to facilitate the whole process of “seeing ourselves trajecting into a high-performance organisation”.

And for his part, Nthathe hailed the relationship with the UB, as an opportunity because UB is a fountain of both knowledge and research while Infinitech is a research-oriented private company and problem solvers that are focussed on bringing value to the market by providing solutions that hinge around mobile.

The partnership is ideal because UB has the capacity and expertise in different domains, which Infinitech could incorporate into their crafts, and with that collaboration, they hope to unleash mutual value for both UB and Infinitech.

Infinitech invests in software that promotes financial inclusion as well as digital inclusion. For financial inclusion, Infinitech provides services for people that are both banked and unbanked, while for digital inclusion they provide services that hinge around the most affordable devices to the most advanced smartphones.

Indeed the company’s solutions have been implemented in different sectors. They have got products around insurance for both long-term and short-term insurance.

“We have developed Apps for the local insurance market –Botswana Life, and then we have also implemented wallet solutions around that.

“We have also implemented the Water Utilities Corporation App, it is an App that enables consumers (Batswana) to use their mobile devices to fetch their bill from WUC remotely on their phones and to also make a payment, and then we have added other value-added services on the App where you can remotely initiate and submit a meter reading as well as to engage the WUC in as far as self-services are concerned in things like reporting any customer queries”, Nthathe explained.

He said the reason they have invested in mobile is that mobile is a grassroots tool, it’s ubiquitous hence his advice to any service provider who wants to engage the public that mobile is the best fit for that type of engagement.

Prof Norris who was accompanied by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Student Affairs, Motsei Madisaa-Rapelana, and some Deans, lamented the predicament that Botswana’s talented and computer-savvy youth faces.

“The talent that is in this country amongst our young people is amazing. Our young people know programming but for the longest time we failed them because we did not give them that nurturing environment where this talent can be felt”, he observed.

In his closing remarks, the Coordinator for the Commercialisation and Enterprises Office Rebana Mmereki said it is high time the University starts using ICT to monitor the implementation and progress of the MoUs and MoAs that they sign with different stakeholders.