Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development, Honorable Sithembiso Nyoni on Tuesday urged youths to engage in entrepreneurial activities so as to create their own wealth.
This call comes after the country has registered a decline in economic activities which forced many companies to downsize, others to close and subsequently leading to many youths being unemployed.
Speaking at the launch of the International Youth Foundation (IYF) works program and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and IYF, Minister Nyoni challenged youths to create their own employment.
“The nation’s development cannot be achieved by only attracting foreign direct investment but by Zimbabwean youths’ contribution through their entrepreneurial skills and commitment,” she said.
Recent statistics divulge that more than 300,000 school leavers enter the labour market annually with less than 10% being absorbed into formal employment.
Minister Nyoni said the decline in economic activities should serve as a breakthrough for youths, who she urged to create their own businesses.
“The decline in economic activities has also created opportunities for those retrenched to start their own business.
“There is need therefore, to come up with programs and projects that promote the spirit of entrepreneurship and self-reliance to absorb the unemployed graduates,” she said.
She also applauded IYF’s launch of the Zimbabwe Works programme which is meant to improve entrepreneurial skills amongst the Zimbabwean youths.
“IYF’s initiatives come in handy as these will cushion our youths against unemployment whilst facilitating them to enter into self-employment ventures,” she said.
According to MSME Finscope Survey 2012, there were 2.8 million MSME owners in Zimbabwe contributing more than 60% of the GDP.
The sector is immensely contributing to the employment creation with 5.7 million people being employed in the MSME sector as at 2012.
