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Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
THE Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Misheck Mugadza has challenged young people to be at the forefront of socio-economic developments that enhance decent livelihood and make the country great.
He was addressing hundreds of youths at the 9th edition of the Manicaland Business Expo held in Mutare yesterday (Thursday).
About 132 young exhibitors drawn from the seven districts of Manicaland with artefacts straddling from clothing, dried foods, crafts, processed foods, drones cosmetology, confectionary, education, music to furniture, among others, participated at the event.
The expo was running under the theme: “Accelerating Attainment of Vision 2030 Through Business Development in Youth, Sports and Arts”.
It was aimed at promoting young businesses and involve young people in building and designing a future society within which they can function as productive and responsible citizens, with a bearing on their present and future access to health, education and protection.
Minister Mugadza said gone are the days for youths not to effectively participate in social, civic and economic life.
“This expo is a great opportunity for young people to express their views, share their experiences and propose interventions that will make youth development efforts achievable.
“As young people, sometimes you may not know what the solutions are. Sometimes you may not even know what the root cause of the problems are, but when we are engaged, we know and can advise how messages and programmes can reach you, how they can influence us and how they can make an impact in the lives of the youth across the country,” said Minister Mugadza.
He promised to mobilise support for youths through more job openings, internship opportunities, mentoring programmes and support for entrepreneurship, among other actions.
He also said all businesses and civil society should have an interest in supporting young people, adding that such connections and networks with other companies, organisations, and individuals will help young people’s businesses to connect with new customers, investors, suppliers, paving their way to growth and sustainable livelihoods.
Youths in Zimbabwe face challenges such as unemployment, unaffordable education and lack of access to health care due to excessive poverty, forced mobility (migration) due to limited opportunities, child marriages, sexual abuse of young women, lack of collateral security and drug and substance abuse.
Minister Mugadza decried the negative impact of drugs and substance abuse on young people, adding that the evil must be eradicated to spare today’s generation.
Manicaland is being used as a conduit and a destination for smuggled illicit drugs, leading to a sharp increase in the local consumption and peddling of narcotics even among schoolchildren.
The influx of drugs through the porous border has become a major concern for crime and health experts.
Drugs commonly abused in local hotspots include cocaine, morphine, heroin, ecstasy, cannabis, bronclear (bronco), mandrax, hashish and crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as mutoriro, dombo or guka.
“We owe it to the great men and women of Zimbabwe who continually put their lives on the line and will evidently do anything to restore Zimbabwe. If we remove the hindrances affecting youths, we will make ourselves proud in every sphere. I would also like to take this opportunity to caution all youths against engaging in drug and substance abuse and other vices as these will not only jeopardise their careers, but also compromise their wellbeing as well as those of their families.,” he said.
Minister Mugadza said EmpowerBank has to date disbursed over $200 million to various youth empowerment initiatives in form of loans which is contributing to Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 of building a middle-income economy by the Year 2030.
The bank also mobilises youths through financial literacy and project proposal training so that they present bankable business proposals in order to access assistance.
Over 1 000 youths have benefitted in the province, while thousands are queuing for assistance.
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