National Innovation Acceleration Centre (NIAC) launched to support innovators

THE Government has launched the National Innovation Acceleration Centre (Niac) to support innovators, while calling for market-ready inventions that attract investments and solve real problems to foster economic growth, employment and technological advancement in line with Vision 2030.

Anchored on Education 5.0 and the Smart Zimbabwe 2030 Master Plan, the strategy emphasises information, communication and technology (ICT), private sector-led growth, and infrastructure development to build a competitive, knowledge-driven economy.

In a keynote address on Wednesday read on her behalf by her deputy, Dingumuzi Phuti, Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Tatenda Mavetera, told delegates at the closing ceremony of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) 2026 Innovation Product Launch and Business Forum in Bulawayo that Zimbabwe was determined to move with greater urgency and structure to build and innovate the economy.

“Our country is no longer satisfied with innovation remaining at the level of ideas, prototypes, exhibitions and promises. We want innovation that enters the market, attracts investment and solves real problems,” she said. “We want innovation that creates jobs, strengthens productivity, improves public services and contributes directly to national development.”

Minister Mavetera said the Innovation Product Launch and Business Forum and the launch of the National Innovation Acceleration Centre (NIAC) represent a shift in the national focus from admiring innovation to enabling it.

“This initiative is meant to connect innovators with investors. It is meant to connect industry, Government, academia and development partners so that market-ready solutions can improve and move into practical adoption and scale,” she added.

“The world is changing rapidly, nations that will succeed in the coming decades are those that can transform ideas into enterprise, research into solutions and local talent into globally competitive products and services.

“In this new era, innovation is no longer optional; it is central to economic transformation, digital sovereignty, industrial modernisation and sustainable development.”

Minister Mavetera said for Zimbabwe, this matters deeply as it was a country with a youthful population, strong human capital, resilient entrepreneurs, growing digital ambition and a clear desire to build an upper middle income economy.

“We must create confidence in local solutions and ensure innovation becomes part of how we produce, how we govern, how we sell, how we compete and how we grow. That is why the Government of Zimbabwe places very high value on innovation initiatives, such as this one,” she said.

“As the ministry, we view digital innovation not as an isolated sectoral issue but as a national development enabler. Innovation must support agriculture, education, health, manufacturing, financial services, local government, logistics, environment, management and public administration.”

Minister Mavetera said young people, women, persons living with disabilities, communities outside major urban centres and emerging enterprises have a fair opportunity to participate in the digital economy.

“NDS2 emphasises economic growth, infrastructural development, human capital development, innovation, social protection and improved governance,” she said.

“Innovation must become one of the practical tools through which those national goals are realised.
“The establishment of the NIAC is, therefore, a strategic development for Zimbabwe. NIAC creates a platform through which national innovation efforts can be better coordinated, strengthened and directed towards real outcomes.”

Minister Mavetera said NIAC must help shape the future direction of Zimbabwe’s innovation ecosystem, while it is being positioned as a co-ordination mechanism.

“NIAC gives us an opportunity to bring those efforts together and be more and more deliberate. This is critical because no single institution can build an innovation economy alone. The Government can provide policy and direction and enabling conditions,” she said.

The three-day event provided a structured flagship national platform where innovators presented market-ready solutions to investors, industry, Government and development partners.