The ManicaPost
Business Reporter
THE Youth and Women Empowerment Project (YWEP) which seeks to improve young people and women’s livelihoods through the creation and development of economic opportunities tailor-made for them, will be launched in Bulawayo next week.
The project is being implemented with support from the African Development Bank (ADB) support and is being managed by the Programme Management Unit (PMU) in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
The project will benefit participants under the ministries of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation and Women Affairs, Gender, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives Development.
The Youth Ministry’s Deputy Director Communications and Advocacy, Mr Ranson Madzamba said the project will be delivered through two pathways – income generating projects and institutional support.
The project has three main components – namely food value addition, enterprise development and project management.
“It involves an incremental capacity strengthening of Zimbabwe’s key institutions towards the reduction of poverty and youth unemployment through the improvement of the enabling environment for youth and women, all of which are critical in attaining the goals of National Development Strategy (NDS1),” said Mr Madzamba.
He said Zimbabwe’s young people constitute 67,7 percent of the national population, which gives them the leverage of running highly productive businesses.
Despite this huge potential, youths face a myriad of challenges in accessing markets, which in turn makes their businesses moribund.
“A large number of youths have not developed business networks necessary to penetrate markets, interact with well-established businesses to accord them mentorship opportunities as well as interact with colleagues to discuss challenges hindering progress. To bridge this networking gap, the ministry in 2016 introduced Annual Provincial Youth Expos that provided platforms for youths to engage, connect and learn.
However, there is a need to take a step further towards rewarding these brilliant businesses and showcase the products produced by young entrepreneurs at national level.
“It is against this background that the ministry intends to hold a National Youth Business Expo from June 2 to 4 with support from ADB,” he said.
“The objectives of the NYBE include creating a platform to showcase, market products and services produced by young entrepreneurs at national level, enable them to interact with established companies who may be suppliers of raw materials and consumers of their finished products.
“It also seeks to cultivate a networking environment, identify market needs at a national level, promote inter-trade among young entrepreneurs and identify the business opportunities that exist in Zimbabwe,” he said.
The event will include exhibitions, networking events and a business conference.
