Mnangagwa urges youths to dream big

YOUTHS must dream big, create wealth and seize opportunities which are available in the economy in order to play a central role in building a better Zimbabwe, as this represents the true meaning of Independence, President Mnangagwa has said.

In an Independence Day message penned in his weekly article for this publication, President Mnangagwa said youths must show resolve and write their own destiny.

"We are creating opportunities; your responsibility is to seize and act upon them so you deserve them in the first place, and so you translate them into real gains on the ground, going forward. There is space for you in agriculture and related value chains, in mining, in industry, in commerce and, more critically, in across-sector start-ups which Government is ready to finance," he said.

Every Government ministry was directed to create a Youth Desk to galvanise them to take up available economic opportunities.

"Such a desk is not a favour to the youths; it is Government's duty and responsibility to a stratum hardest hit by sanctions-induced unemployment. With the gradual upturn in our economy, your fortunes are set to take a turn for the better, thus enabling you to edge closer towards the heart of the national economy. We are developing solutions to the currency turbulence, and the consequent instabilities in the market. All our programmes on infrastructure, in mining and in revamping our industry, are aimed at creating employment opportunities especially for you. Equally, the vocational schools we are revamping and adding, are meant to equip you with skills that make you both employable and self-employing."

Government, he said, has changed the education curriculum to ensure all tertiary institutions produce graduates equipped with problem-solving competencies. Innovation hubs at all State universities have triggered extraordinary innovations expected to boost the economy.

He said Government has deliberately incorporated youths in different echelons of power, such as the Cabinet, while a youth quota is being pushed for in Parliament. He said Government's call for resuscitation of old industrial plants and mines, and for greater import substitution in the economy, should create huge scope for innovative youth.

The President urged young people to shun drugs, adding that under his leadership no child of school-going age must be denied opportunities to enrol, learn and chase his or her dream.