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Mnangagwa caps 6,918 UZ graduates
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President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday capped 6 918 graduates at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), with authorities declaring that the institution's growing human capital base has positioned it as a leader in research, innovation, and industrialisation.
Of the graduates, 5 949 completed undergraduate programmes, 938 obtained Master's degrees, while 29 were conferred with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, including 12 women. Two male students graduated with a Master of Philosophy degree.
In his address, UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo said the university's transformation since the launch of its 2019–2025 strategic plan had created a vibrant research and innovation ecosystem delivering tangible solutions for national development.
"Our research, innovation and industrialisation ecosystem is now mature and is beginning to yield commercialisable products, goods and services tailored to our basic societal needs," Prof Mapfumo said.
This year's graduates were drawn from various disciplines, including medicine and health sciences (1 067), agriculture (331), engineering (508), law (491), computer engineering and informatics (339), and veterinary sciences (31). Mnangagwa also capped five students from the UZ-Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology.
Prof Mapfumo highlighted that UZ had registered 16 new start-ups in the past academic year, 13 of them student-led, adding to 21 others launched in 2021. He said several were now approaching maturity and had already begun rolling out innovations into the market.
On the agricultural front, UZ has become food self-sufficient, harvesting over 2 000 tonnes of maize between September 2024 and October 2025 and producing 1 500 tonnes of animal feed annually. Its poultry system can now rear up to 110 000 birds at a time, while over 350 smallholder farmers have been engaged to supply raw materials for the institution's agro-processing programmes.
The Vice Chancellor said UZ had produced 98 new commercialisable products since the last graduation ceremony, bringing the total number of university-linked innovations to 350. These range from ICT systems such as the third number plate and car tracking solutions, to agriculture technologies like the Pfumvudza farmer management system, as well as pension and water management systems already adopted by state institutions.
He also revealed that the university had received 229 awards and recognitions over the past year, cementing its status as Zimbabwe's premier higher education institution.
Among those honoured at the ceremony were the Best Male and Best Female undergraduate students, who each received the Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Chancellor's Award and a cash prize of US$1 000.
President Mnangagwa commended the institution for aligning its academic and research output with the country's industrialisation and modernisation agenda, saying the university's innovations were vital in shaping a competitive, knowledge-driven economy.
Of the graduates, 5 949 completed undergraduate programmes, 938 obtained Master's degrees, while 29 were conferred with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, including 12 women. Two male students graduated with a Master of Philosophy degree.
In his address, UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo said the university's transformation since the launch of its 2019–2025 strategic plan had created a vibrant research and innovation ecosystem delivering tangible solutions for national development.
"Our research, innovation and industrialisation ecosystem is now mature and is beginning to yield commercialisable products, goods and services tailored to our basic societal needs," Prof Mapfumo said.
This year's graduates were drawn from various disciplines, including medicine and health sciences (1 067), agriculture (331), engineering (508), law (491), computer engineering and informatics (339), and veterinary sciences (31). Mnangagwa also capped five students from the UZ-Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology.
On the agricultural front, UZ has become food self-sufficient, harvesting over 2 000 tonnes of maize between September 2024 and October 2025 and producing 1 500 tonnes of animal feed annually. Its poultry system can now rear up to 110 000 birds at a time, while over 350 smallholder farmers have been engaged to supply raw materials for the institution's agro-processing programmes.
The Vice Chancellor said UZ had produced 98 new commercialisable products since the last graduation ceremony, bringing the total number of university-linked innovations to 350. These range from ICT systems such as the third number plate and car tracking solutions, to agriculture technologies like the Pfumvudza farmer management system, as well as pension and water management systems already adopted by state institutions.
He also revealed that the university had received 229 awards and recognitions over the past year, cementing its status as Zimbabwe's premier higher education institution.
Among those honoured at the ceremony were the Best Male and Best Female undergraduate students, who each received the Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Chancellor's Award and a cash prize of US$1 000.
President Mnangagwa commended the institution for aligning its academic and research output with the country's industrialisation and modernisation agenda, saying the university's innovations were vital in shaping a competitive, knowledge-driven economy.
Source - The Herald
