Farai Magombedze
Correspondent
SUPPORTING youth entrepreneurship is a vital cog in the machinery needed to transform Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income society by 2030.
At this time when 90 percent of the country’s youths are unemployed or in the informal sector (ZimStat, 2024), and more than 70 percent of university graduates experience unemployment and frustration, inculcating an ‘employer mindset’ rather than an ‘employee mindset’ in youths has become crucial.
Short of this, Zimbabwe’s potential demographic dividend risks becoming a demographic disaster (ADB 2024, UNFPA 2024).
As the country implements the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), harnessing the enthusiasm, creativity and economic energy of its youths has shifted from being a peripheral social welfare goal to an absolute macroeconomic necessity.
With formal job markets constrained, the responsibility of driving sustainable employment, local industrialisation and productivity now falls largely on the shoulders of the nation’s youths, especially in today’s world where tech-driven, internet riding entrepreneurship is rapidly creating teenage millionaires!
Zimbabwe’s youth bulge presents both a massive challenge and an unprecedented economic opportunity.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), nearly three in every four Zimbabweans (72,3 percent) are under the age of 35, with youths aged 15 to 35 making up a third of all Zimbabweans (approximately 5,04 million citizens).
However, nearly half (49,2 percent) of these young people are currently classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training).
In the absence of productive and profitable occupation, ‘NEET Youths’ face the danger of indulgence in such social deviance as robbery, theft and prostitution or engagement in self-destructive habits like drug and substance abuse.
On the other hand, when properly empowered, youths can be drivers of economic transformation towards attainment of Zimbabwe’s vision of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
Commendably, the Government has come up with the National Youth Empowerment Strategy (2026–2030) which explicitly targets aggressively slashing the NEET rate from nearly 50 percent down to 15 percent by 2030. However, tangible programmes on the ground to transform these aspirations to reality have remained few and coverage has remained minimal.
The rhetoric rings high and impressive. The action on the ground remains scanty, yet the need to transform our youths into entrepreneurs has never been more urgent than now.
The mathematics of supporting youth enterprises are compelling.
Manobo’s 2026 independent longitudinal study of 412 youth-led start-ups across Harare, Bulawayo, and some rural districts revealed that young entrepreneurs backed by structured empowerment programmes create an average of 4,2 formal jobs within their first three years of operation as opposed to an average of just 1,5 jobs for unsupported micro-enterprises.
The study further indicates that youth enterprises trigger a powerful 0,9 employment multiplier effect. For every direct job a young entrepreneur creates, nearly one additional position is generated across localised supply chains – predominantly fuelling progress within the agricultural technology, retail, and ICT sectors. As such, the need to support youth entrepreneurship cannot be underestimated.
To build a sustainable pipeline of job creators rather than job seekers, policymakers must deploy distinct, targeted measures tailored to the unique realities of both in-school and out-of-school youth populations.
For learners currently enrolled in secondary and higher education institutions, entrepreneurship must move from theoretical textbook modules to practical, experiential learning frameworks. Key practical initiatives for turning policy into practical action include:
Operationalising Education 5.0: Educational institutions must fully transition to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development’s Education 5.0 blueprint, prioritising innovation and industrialisation over rote learning. Classrooms should mandate hands-on business modelling and real-world product design.
Establishment of Campus Incubation Hubs: Schools require dedicated workspace accelerators. These hubs should allow students to pitch ideas, build minimum viable products (MVPs), and test commercial concepts while enjoying support from the school.
Apparatus for Early-Stage Intellectual Property (IP): Institutional frameworks must protect and help student innovators commercialise their research, streamlining the path from a university thesis to a registered, revenue-generating start-up.
For youths already active in the economy – many navigating volatile informal markets in urban townships – the core requirements are systemic formalisation, capital, and localised technical training.
Decentralised Financial Inclusion: Capital distribution must be accessible and localised. Expanding facilities like the Ministry of Youth’s Economic Empowerment Fund and the EmpowerBank Starter Pack Loans allows youths to bypass standard commercial bank collateral hurdles with small, revolving micro-grants ranging from US$1 200 to US$5 000.
Provincial Digital And Technological Hubs: Setting up accessible innovation clusters in rural districts – similar to the newly launched AI Digital Innovation Hub in Gokwe North – brings digital literacy, high-speed internet, and business registration infrastructure directly to disadvantaged communities.
Structured Mentorship and Market Integration: Out-of-school youths require active connections to experienced corporate leaders. Programmes must actively link informal operators with formal private-sector supply chains, helping small-scale clothing creators, agro-processors, and tech developers reach sustainable national and regional buyers.
In short, achieving the structural economic transition envisioned under Vision 2030 relies on treating youth entrepreneurship as a foundational national investment rather than a social expense. Building robust incubation networks, simplifying bureaucratic company registration steps, and guaranteeing continuous funding for young innovators will shield vulnerable demographics from illicit activities and substance abuse.
By empowering young people to build resilient businesses, Zimbabwe can successfully convert its primary demographic challenge into a powerful engine for long-term national prosperity.
Farai Magombedze is an independent development consultant, and writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on +263772749214.
