Zimbabwe govt funds winning innovations

THE Government has started disbursing funding to support the commercialisation of research projects and innovations that emerged victorious at the 2025 Presidential Innovation Fair, a senior official has said.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Mr Willie Ganda, said authorities are now shifting focus from merely rewarding innovators to helping them transform their ideas into viable businesses.

"Participation and uptake have been very high," said Mr Ganda in reference to the Presidential Innovation Fair.

"What we're doing now is that people have been winning innovations. We want those innovations to grow and graduate into full-grown enterprises."

Mr Ganda said the ministry had already begun financing some of the winning projects through the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef).

"To do that, we are financing winners from past Presidential Innovation Fairs. This year, we have already released some money through Zimdef to finance those startups," he said.

He added that the Ministry of Finance was also developing additional support mechanisms aimed at assisting innovators and students working on projects in innovation hubs and tertiary institutions.

"The Ministry of Finance is also working to support more startups from students in innovation hubs and various institutions," said Mr Ganda.

Despite the progress, he acknowledged that limited financial resources remain one of the biggest challenges slowing down the commercialisation of innovations.

"The innovation agenda has accelerated and the uptake is huge. What is limiting us is resources to help more innovators and students commercialise their innovations quickly," he said.

Mr Ganda said Government was intensifying collaboration with the private sector to strengthen innovation and industrialisation efforts.

He noted that last year's Presidential Innovation Fair introduced pitching sessions where innovators presented their ideas directly to potential investors and companies.

"We bring innovators to pitch their ideas before the private sector," he said.

"We are creating that platform because innovators need a space to showcase their ideas, while the private sector needs a platform to identify innovations they can adopt."

According to Mr Ganda, some private companies are already partnering with tertiary institutions to refine and test innovations for possible commercial rollout.

He cited a cement innovation developed by students at Chinhoyi University of Technology, which is being refined in collaboration with a multinational company to help address environmental challenges linked to mine dumps.

"We're hoping that as the private sector becomes more aware of the opportunities available, they will come on board," he said.

Zimbabwe has in recent years intensified efforts to promote Education 5.0, a model centred on teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialisation as part of the country's Vision 2030 development agenda.