Harare, (New Ziana) –President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday urged young entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe to acquire and deploy skills in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, digital marketing and development-oriented content creation.
He was speaking at the National Youth Symposium in Harare, which was running under the theme: “Empower the Youth, Secure the Future.”
President Mnangagwa said the skills should be designed to impact the agriculture, rural industrialisation, mining, construction, transport, education, skills development, tourism and the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sectors, among others.
“The Ministry of Youth is directed to fully integrate broad digital skills training into all its institutions and programs,” he said. He said on its part, the government will continue providing the youth with the tools, resources and opportunities required to develop their skills and actively participate in the social, economic and political spheres within their communities.
“This includes the capacitation of vocational training institutions, to ensure that out-of-school youth benefit from specialised technical skill training opportunities. Additionally, life-long skills development remains a priority, so that the youth are integrated into the formal economy.
The curricula, machinery and equipment of Vocational Training Institutions, will also be upgraded to match modern industry needs and progression,” he said. Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa also officially launched the National Youth Empowerment Strategy, which aims to create and promote inclusive policies and programs that enable young people to contribute to the social, political, and economic growth of the country.
The strategy provides timely guidance on ways that the government and its partners can facilitate young people to access appropriate education and skills training, decent work, entrepreneurship opportunities and health services as well as their uptake of leadership roles.
President Mnangagwa said the numerous programs and policies that the government is implementing will continue to strengthen the skills of young people to ensure national development.
“This event is another testament that the Second Republic continues to recognise the youth as the future of our country and driving force of our on-going development agenda. Your fresh perspectives, innovative ideas and boundless energy are indeed critical ingredients to propel our nation forward,” he said.
He expressed confidence that through such platforms, the government and other stakeholders will gain defining insights into the aspirations of the youths towards inclusive, broad-based and responsive youth programming and project implementation.
“Networks such as this one must provide you with the requisite information, so that you have access to opportunities and resources across all government Ministries, departments and agencies, as well as from development partners.
“These synergies within the youth sector and among other divisions of our economy must be nurtured for accelerated development, anchored at the community level. Equally, the cross-pollination of views among stakeholders and the outcomes of our conversations, must reach every corner of our nation,” he said.
President Mnangagwa challenged the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training to ride on its presence at the ward level to disseminate information to the grassroots level as this would guarantee that information shared at such vital platforms is accessible to all our young people in all official languages.
New Ziana
