Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu [email protected]
A TOTAL of 258 youths from five vocational training centres in Matabeleland South have graduated with technical skills, as Government challenges emerging entrepreneurs to embrace digitalisation to expand businesses and create employment.
The graduates, comprising 188 females and 70 males, completed courses in various fields, including brick and block laying, carpentry and joinery, clothing and textiles technology, hospitality and tourism, motor mechanics, metal fabrication, fitting and turning, horticulture, cosmetology and electrical engineering, including solar installation.
The graduation ceremony was held at Phangani Vocational Training Centre in Insiza District under the theme: “Skills, Enterprise and Digitalisation – Pathway to Vision 2030”.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training chief director, Mr Elias Murinda, Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister Tino Machakaire urged the graduates to use digital tools to improve business efficiency, reduce operating costs and reach wider markets.
He said digitalisation had broken down barriers of geography, access and scale, creating opportunities for young entrepreneurs to compete beyond their immediate communities.
“In your endeavours to venture into the new world of work and self-employment, embrace digital skills to improve efficiency, enhance decision-making, reduce unnecessary costs, transform the operations of your organisations and deliver value,” said Minister Machakaire.
He said digitalisation goes beyond converting information into digital formats, as it involves integrating technology into business processes to drive innovation, automate tasks, minimise human error and improve workflows.
Minister Machakaire said technology could enable a young entrepreneur in a rural community to sell products to international markets, a student to access learning opportunities from leading universities without leaving home, and a farmer to use data to improve agricultural productivity.
He challenged the graduates to look beyond formal employment and use their technical skills to establish enterprises, create jobs and contribute to national development.
Minister Machakaire said the Government had put in place funding mechanisms, including facilities offered through EmpowerBank, to support young people and promote financial inclusion.
“Graduands, you are stepping into a world that needs your ideas, your courage and your commitment. The pathway to Vision 2030 is not paved by Government policy alone; it is built by the hands, minds and hearts of people like you,” he said.
“Use your skills to innovate. Use enterprise to create opportunities. Use digitalisation to connect, scale and transform.”
Minister Machakaire said the ministry’s vision was to develop an empowered youth population that actively participates in economic development, in line with the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which recognises skills training as a catalyst for economic transformation.
In a speech read on her behalf by deputy director for Business Development, Mr Tichaona Mudzviti, Permanent Secretary for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mrs Lathiso Dlamini-Maseko urged the graduates to put their acquired skills to work in building the country.
She said the graduates should be guided by President Mnangagwa’s philosophy that “ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo.”
Mrs Dlamini-Maseko said vocational training centres played an important role in producing skilled personnel needed to drive development in the province and the country.
One of the graduates, Mr Charles Manzini, who received an award for outstanding performance in brick and block laying, said he hoped to establish a construction company and mentor other young people.
“I feel greatly honoured by this award. My desire is to start my own construction company where I can groom youngsters and mentor therm. I hope my journey can be an inspiration and lesson for someone,” he said.
Government plans to establish at least one vocational training centre in every district as part of efforts to expand access to practical skills training and promote rural industrialisation.
The centres are expected to equip young people with skills that can be converted into productive enterprises, employment opportunities and locally driven economic development.
