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Lynn Munjanja Herald Reporter

YOUNG Women for Economic Development (YW4ED) yesterday marked the organisation’s first anniversary where they hailed President Mnangagwa for giving female youths a chance to participate in the national economy.

Most have since blossomed into thriving independent businesswomen, contributing significantly to national development.

Formed on August 13 last year, the YW4ED have vowed to play their part in the country’s journey towards attaining an upper middle class society by 2030.

In an interview on the side-lines of the meeting, YW4ED chairperson for Harare Province Ms Rufaro Matsika praised President Mnangagwa’s eagerness to empower young women.

Ms Matsika said yesterday’s meeting provided them with a platform to interact and exchange business notes.

“We have a network in all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe and today we were giving our young ladies an interaction platform to share business ideas,” she said.

“We are really grateful to be involved in this programme and also we had ZimTrade, EmpowerBank, Women’s Bank and other corporations who always support us. We also have young women who were showcasing their independent businesses so it was quite beneficial to us because everyone got a chance to interact and make contacts.”

Ms Tasha Sikhala (26), who is involved in the trucking business, was happy to participate in the deliberations.

“This kind of platform whereby we have people in Government who know exactly which channels to take when you are looking for business and the things needed, is empowering because I would not have such information at home with my circle of friends,” she said.

“I would also like to thank the President and the First Lady for affording such an opportunity because information is power, we never had these platforms before.”

YW4ED national chairperson Ms Tatenda Mavetera said they would want to involve every young woman and leave no one behind in empowerment.

“We would want to involve everyone so that we capacitate young women on what business opportunities are available,” she said. “The President has given us a platform on which we can capitalise and we will make sure that we have deliverables which young women will benefit from.

“We believe that networking is very important and it will expose our young women to great opportunities which will contribute to economic development.”

ZimTrade CEO Mr Allan Majuru said there were many opportunities that women could make use of to generate income.

“The idea is to train them so that they understand how the international export business works and how different it is when it is done locally,” he said.

Mr Majuru said ZimTrade has a programme dubbed, “Next She Exporter”, which is targeted at women from all the country’s provinces so they are capacitated.

“There are a lot of opportunities out there and we are prepared to help the young women so that they can be empowered,” he said.