E-COMMERCE A BRAND FOR THE ELITE

By Susan Mwape

Zambia has not been left behind in embracing the coming in of Information Communication Technology (ICTs). This can be observed from among others the introduction of mobile phone services in Zambia about eight years ago. There has been a steady increase of people acquiring these services; the variety of services providers gives subscribers the choice to choose which network they want to belong to.

The service providers also have a duty of advancing their services every time in order to stay competitive and also to stay ahead and in business, in business and also to satisfy their consumers. This competition saw the introduction of one of the first service by one the mobile phone service providers. This service enables a subscriber to own an account that s/he can access on his mobile phone and be able to use it to gain services that include among others, the purchasing of fuel, groceries, clothes and even paying a hotel bills. This service enables the subscriber pay or gets a service without having to handle cash which arguably is safe but the subscriber is subjected to only carrying their phone which on the other hand is another attractive commodity for thieves in Lusaka.

The introduction of this exciting service would get a lot of overwhelming response from subscribers and one would expect it to be a house hold name. This however, has not been the case, most subscribers are not aware of this service this includes the subscribers of that particular network. Most of the people that use this service are people in top management positions and companies of the corporate world.

Now when we talk of ICTs as a tool for enhancing development then we should be able to create incentives that are able to embrace all large sector in society, we are supposed be able to look at a wider spectrum beyond just the ability of the elites being able to use these services. Beyond just the issue of this beautiful cell phone facility is the new trend in the provision of Automatic Teller Machine (ATMs), this is another sector that has brought a lot of doubts in the lives of most people with ICTs. People are never able to understand whether to trust technology as they constantly wonder whether the use of ATMs is for the bank gain and just a service that fools people and just steals from them, through the high bank charges they have to pay to use this service.

On the other hand some banks are no longer to be trusted as they are now getting reluctant to do what people term as their “job” the banks now have resorted to use ATM machines for people to deposit and withdraw and this creates a picture that people are not welcome in the bank any more, there is no proper customer care.

Taking the overall picture is technology really building or destroying our economy? Is it proving the provision of sustainable development and if it is how? With its intended purpose of providing a positive image will the events that are happening manage to provide a positive image that will easily be embraced by each and everyone in our communities. there is need for everyone involved in the ICT world to be honest so that we do not end up denting the ICT Image.