Online Reporter
Nqobile Bhebhe, [email protected]
INDUSTRY and Commerce Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu has urged tertiary institutions to position students as key players in Zimbabwe’s industrialisation drive, saying talent developed in classrooms, laboratories and workshops is a critical national productive asset.
Minister Ndlovu said this while addressing a public lecture at Bulawayo Polytechnic on “Harnessing Students’ Potential for Sustainable Industrialisation and Vision 2030”, where he challenged students to translate their knowledge and technical skills into productive enterprises.
He said connecting students with industry, markets, finance and real economic challenges would create opportunities for them to participate meaningfully in domestic value chains.
“My central message is simple, the talent in the classrooms, laboratories and workshops is a national productive asset.
“If we connect that talent to industry, to markets to finance and real economic problems, students can become innovators, suppliers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and owners within Zimbabwe’s value chains,” he said.
Minister Ndlovu said Bulawayo’s industrial heritage and the role played by Bulawayo Polytechnic in producing skilled manpower made the institution an appropriate venue for discussions on the country’s next phase of industrial development.
“Bulawayo itself has a proud industrial heritage and this institution has been part of that history by producing skilled people who have contributed to Zimbabwe’s productive sectors.
“It is therefore particularly appropriate that we gather here to reflect on how the talent, ideas and energy of our students can help shape the next chapter of Zimbabwe’s industrial development.”
He said the thrust of the public lecture went beyond preparing students to fit into the existing economy, but sought to empower them to become active participants in shaping it.
“When we are looking at our theme, this theme is not simply about helping students to find a place in an existing economy or in the existing economy.
“It is rather about enabling students to shape that economy. It asks how knowledge can become production, how technical skills can become enterprises, and how student ideas can produce products and services that strengthen Zimbabwe.”
The Minister said Zimbabwe’s industrialisation agenda required stronger linkages between tertiary institutions and industry to ensure that innovations emerging from students were commercialised and translated into tangible economic value.
Such linkages, he said, could help build a pipeline of local suppliers, manufacturers and entrepreneurs while supporting the country’s broader value-addition and beneficiation drive.
The engagement also underscored the importance of exposing students to markets and financing opportunities so that viable ideas developed in institutions of higher learning can move beyond prototypes and become sustainable businesses.
For Zimbabwe to achieve its Vision 2030 aspirations, Minister Ndlovu said, students needed to be viewed not merely as future employees but as potential producers, innovators and owners of businesses operating across the country’s value chains.
