The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Government has urged the youth to be equipped with business and entrepreneurship skills so that they can be able to navigate the challenges of the rapidly changing job market.
In a speech read on her behalf by the Bulawayo provincial director for economic development, Mr Simon Saunyama, Bulawayo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Judith Ncube, at the Business Success Accelerator Conference 2023 at a local hotel last Friday, said they were aware of the challenges faced by the youth.
The Conference was held under the theme, “Investment and Industrialisation; Connecting Business and Entrepreneurship Minds for a Sustainable Economic Transformation.” Minister Ncube said the business conference was a networking platform devoted to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, providing an invaluable platform for small businesses to market their businesses and interact with prominent youth business leaders.
“I am very much cognisant of the many challenges facing the youth today such as high unemployment rates and substance and drug abuse. We need to espouse ubuntu and value human life, which is what makes us different as human beings. We are because of others, we need every youth for us to reach our aim of making the goals of 2030 a reality in our lives,” said Minister Ncube.
The Minister added: “The theme seeks to mainstream the economic development agenda and participation of business people in the broader economy. As the Government, our commitment to economic development is influenced by Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) goals.”
She said the NDS1 strategy intends to lay a firm foundation for the youth and the citizen, who are and will continue to shape the future of this country. Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Raj Modi, in a speech, read on his behalf by an economist in the Ministry, Ms Pretty Nyathi, said women and youth were the engine room of development in the country.
Raj Modi
“They are essential to the impactful implementation of investment and industrialisation. The ultimate measure of success of this conference lies in the utilisation of opportunities offered by the Zimbabwean Government in a way that improves access to factors of production, improves efficiency and scale up businesses, generates actual revenues which in turn improves the standards of life,” said Deputy Minister Modi.
He said his Ministry remains committed to working with all stakeholders to fulfill its mandate of ensuring that the industries deliver their promises of sustainable and inclusive development. Headlining the conference, business consultant, speaker, and author from the United States of America, Dr Ron Eccles said building wealth was a skillset while keeping it was a discipline.
Dr Eccles is popularly known as the “Success Doctor” in the USA business circles. He advised the youth that in business one of their greatest fears should not be a failure but succeeding at things in life that seem not to matter.
“There is a need to remain committed, commitment is the one thing that will ensure you’re successful in whatever you do not just business. Commitment is about doing something when you don’t know the plan and having the courage to go through the unknowns,” he said.
Dr Eccles is on a tour of African countries that include Zimbabwe and Zambia to give intensive business and life coaching skills.
