The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga Senior Business Reporter
PLANS to revolutionalise vocational training are under way with global shapers community leaders working on turning vocational training centres in the city into productive units in a bid to address youth unemployment.In an interview with Sunday Business, the two World Economic Forum global shapers community representatives from Bulawayo hub said they had identified two main challenges affecting the youth in the city that they would implement projects on.
Founder and vice-chairperson of Rising Hope Foundation Ms Ntandose Hlabangana said the challenges were youth leadership and unemployment.
“We noticed that there are many children without mentors especially in orphanages hence we will be implementing Asakheni mentorship programme at Khayelihle children’s village so as to impart guidance and ideas in the youth,” said Ms Hlabangana.
She said the mentorship programme was the first programme that the global shapers leaders would implement in the city.
Population Services International medical laboratory scientist Mr Phuthumani Mlotshwa, the second leader, said in the meetings that they had held with the city’s leadership including Mayor Martin Moyo, it was apparent that youth unemployment was the biggest challenge.
Mr Mlotshwa said vocational centres would be ideal to bridge this gap although there was a need to focus on productivity and not recreation as youths needed to earn a living and not just be preoccupied.
“We have been doing some research on the best practices of running the training centres and have met with some people who run vocational centres in the city to find out which resources are needed and what needs to be done to have more youths earn a living,” he said.
He said the leaders were planning to lay the groundwork before attending the World Economic Forum on Africa that will be held in Cape Town, South Africa next month.
“The forum deals with different facets and there is a particular session that will be conducted by a SA organisation, ARC. Our interest in ARC is that they have different projects on job creation and sustainable development hence we want to engage the organisation and see how we can partner with them and modify their structure to fit our own Zimbabwean model,” said Mr Mlotshwa.
Speaking on other opportunities available, Ms Hlabangana said they were trying to come up with ways of tapping into the informal sector and making it more sustainable.
She said it was important to have a strategy in place as well as the knowledge on implementing best practice to create more jobs.
“It is our duty as leaders to find potential investors and partners for the youth. We also need to educate them on how to access loans from financial institutions and have knowledge on investment opportunities in the city,” Ms Hlabangana said.
Mr Alvin Nyika, founder and chairman of Core Foundation from the Global Shapers Community, Harare Hub, said the country had a young population of youth in business that needed incubation of ideas to help them create employment in the country.
The World Economic Forum on Africa which this year marks 25 years of change in Africa under the theme, Then and Now: Reimagining Africa’s Future, will convene regional and global leaders from business, government and civil society to take stock of progress over the last 25 years, share insights on the present landscape and identify innovative approaches to accelerate inclusive growth while bringing about sustainable development in the future.
The Global Shapers Community is a network of Hubs developed and led by young people who are exceptional in their potential, their achievements and their drive to make a contribution to their communities.
