2016 is here. And damn it feels like 2008 – The Remix. But every cloud has a silver lining. Even if that cloud isn’t going to rain in November and holds it all in until the pointless month of January. So yes on the one hand this may be a year where we are confronted with incompetent politicians, an economy resembling a Peugeot 504 emergency taxi and a hectic drought but it will also be a year of mushrooming online expression, cutting-edge innovations and new social struggles. Here are a few predictions:
Climate Change is Here. Deal With It.
This is the year where climate change goes viral. Let me put it in Zimbabwean terms: If it was a dancehall song it would have knocked Winy D off the top of the charts and made all his problems re-appear. World leaders agreed on an unenforceable and insufficient climate agreement at COP21 in Paris in December 2015 that is likely to lead to a 2 degree warming in global temperatures leaving large parts of the world less habitable. Along comes El Nino and voila – Climate change just went mainstream in Zim. So 2016 is a year of drought and 3 million people in need of food aid. It also presents us with an opportunity: to raise awareness about climate change, to start innovating through using our abundance of sun for solar power and to begin adapting new forms of agriculture.
Social Struggles - Jambanja Reloaded
2016 kicked off in a feisty jambanja mood. Rural teachers were striking and kombi drivers were rioting. Hello to the new social base that is replacing the old worker and student base of the MDC of ’99. All hail the lumpenproletariat of hwindis, vendors and the underemployed! With the demise of the opposition as we knew it and the tumbling economy we will see the emergence of more social struggles by ordinary people. Handeyi!
Internet – The New Frontier
2015 was a year when young Zimbabweans decided not to wait for ageing ministers to ‘digitise’ TV for them. Instead video-sharing on Facebook and Whatsapp blew up in a country with an estimated 45% internet penetration. Young Zimbabweans digitized for themselves. Independent productions gathered thousands of viewers, satire went viral and quite a few young Zimbabwean creatives became Facebook famous. The phenomenon of the large views gathered by the PO Box show is a case in point. 2016 will see a massive boom in online video sharing as video content becomes king. Zimbabweans are increasingly turning to the internet for news and it is becoming a key space for free expression and alternative media. Watch out then for a potential clamp down on online expression by the state this year. May the force be with you.
Innovations – Lets Make A Plan
Zimbabweans have always been known for making a plan. Considering how tough 2016 is likely to be we will have to make a plan to make a plan. Look out for more solar powered home devices and more solar fields. Prepare for more shifts to online TV and viewing a la NetFlix and Econet’s new Kwese TV. And more mobile apps and innovations created by smart young Zimbabweans to make our lives more simple in this tough khiya khiya economy. Such as useful stuff you can do from your cellphones like eMkambo, the mobile technology initiative in Zim helping farmers to sell their produce. Lets do this!