Online Reporter
Debra Matabvu [email protected]
President Mnangagwa has called on graduates from various higher learning institutions being capped across the country to put their acquired skills to use, industrialise and modernise the country, and contribute to its socio-economic growth.
Writing on his microblogging site, X, after presiding over the 17th graduation ceremony of 734 graduates at the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) yesterday, the President called on the graduates of the class of 2026 to contribute to and participate in the development of the country.
“Today, I had the distinct honour of presiding over the 17th Graduation Ceremony of the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) at the Belvedere Campus,” President Mnangagwa said.
“We capped 734 exceptional graduates—comprising 402 young men and 332 young women—who are fully equipped to drive our nation’s modernisation and industrialisation agenda.”
President Mnangagwa commended the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) for continuing to anchor its academic programmes and innovations on the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 philosophy and producing graduates who are contributing meaningfully to the country’s development agenda.
“He added: “As a premier institution of technology, HIT continues to be a cornerstone of our Heritage-Based Education 5.0 design, producing innovators capable of developing tangible solutions for Zimbabwe’s socio-economic growth.
“To the Class of 2026: Go forth and build, industrialise, and innovate! Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo.”
The President conferred master’s and undergraduate degrees in various disciplines include Engineering and Technology, Information Science and Technology, Business and Management Sciences,
Industrial Sciences and Technology and Allied Health Sciences.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the institution’ vice chancellor, Professor Quinton Kanhukamwe, said the mandate is closely aligned with the Government’s Heritage-Based Education 5.0 philosophy, which places emphasis on innovation, industrialisation and the practical application of knowledge to address national challenges.
He also applauded the policy and said it seeks to transform higher and tertiary education institutions into centres of innovation and industrial development by encouraging students and academics to move beyond theoretical learning towards the development and commercialisation of products and solutions.
“Harare Institute of Technology exists because of a national mandate: to develop, incubate, transfer and commercialise technology for Zimbabwe’s industrialisation,” Prof Kanhukamwe said.
“That mandate is the anchor of everything I have described so far, and it stands on three pillars our destiny, to be the stimulant of scholarship in innovation; our cause, to cultivate commitment towards technopreneurial leadership; and our calling, to commercialise technology through professionalism rooted in integrity.
“It is the same mandate that you, Your Excellency and Chancellor, have championed through Heritage-Based Education 5.0 a doctrine rooted in your own words, delivered in your inaugural address to the nation and recorded in the official Hansard of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.”
Professor Kanhukamwe also highlighted the various collaborations done by the institute over the past year which include partnering with the University of Tokyo while Seoul Cyber University has signed an academic agreement with HIT.
Other partnerships include the Korea-Zimbabwe Knowledge sharing programme.
The college has also entered partnerships with Jadavpur University in India, Bialystok University of Technology in Poland, University of Arizona in US and St Petersburg in Russia.
Professor Kanhukamwe also highlighted some of the various achievements of the institution over the past year which include Ndarama Technologies, a digital-sovereignty venture,now running the
Ministry of Mines’ Export Permit Management System and the Citizen Engagement and Scoring Platform, Matsimba Technologies, an e-ticketing system, the Public Service Commission’s pension platform and a solar panel factory in Belvedere.
He noted that other milestones included setting up of various laboratories for research which include Catalysis and Chemical Process Engineering laboratory (CCPE), Electronics, Embedded
Systems and Cyber-Physical Engineering laboratory (EEC), Artificial Intelligence, Data and Digital Engineering laboratory (AIDDE), Bio-Innovation and Health Technologies laboratory (BIHT), Agri-Food Technology and Bioeconomy laboratory (AFTB).
Prof Kanhukamwe said HIT would, going forward, focus on driving value addition and beneficiation of Zimbabwe’s critical minerals, ensuring the country moves beyond exporting raw minerals to producing higher-value products locally.
He said the National Lithium Study had enabled the institution to establish what critical minerals and rare earth elements Zimbabwe possesses and how they can be beneficiated.
“Our outlook is to carry that knowledge all the way up the value chain: from characterised ore, through battery-grade precursor chemistry in our AMMB laboratory, through mineral value addition in MVANC, to Lithium Iron Phosphate cells, to complete electric-vehicle battery packs, and ultimately to Zimbabwean-assembled electric vehicles and trams rolling out of the Hi-Tech Development Valley itself,” Prof Kanhukamwe said.
He said HIT will continue to drive high impact technology deployments that support vision 2030 and accelerate Zimbabwe’s economic transformation.
Among those who received special recognition of the E.D Mnangagwa Chancellor’s Award of US$1 000 cash was Matida Pelemba who graduated with a Bachelor of Technology Honours Degree in Computer Science.
Other recipients of the ED Mnangagwa Chancellor’s award were Shawn Mango, Kudzaishe Mugadza and Jane Maruma.
The ceremony was attended by Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Dr Frederick Shava, Chief Secretary Dr Martin Rushwaya, Cabinet Ministers, vice chancellors from other universities, captains of industry and senior Government officials.
