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Carl Maswoswa Youth Interactive Writer

Growing up in the high density of Mufakose, I always imagined how thrilling adult life would be. 

I was exposed to the lush life with women and men holding briefcases and driving their own cars. 

Back in 2001, I was only seven years old, yet I was building these air castles in my mind not knowing what adult life entailed – the little innocent me inclined to make dreams come true at whatever cost. 

We always had a positive disposition in our mind – to be the next Nigel Chanakira of Kingdom Bank, the Strive Masiyiwa’s or Douglas Munatsi.

Living in the ghetto came with its own experiences and hardships. 

Doing anything came with a price whether it was sport, academics or being at the forefront of Zimbabwe’s politics.

Without mentorship or any sound prerogative, the Zimbabwean dream seemed far fetched a ticket to heaven where a few made it. 

In those days, life seemed to go without any difficulties as there was an explicit and structured way of aligning yourself to a dream. It would be achieved if you followed the prerequisite pathway.

What is “the Zimbabwean dream” and what does it mean to be Zimbabwean? 

At one point in time the Zimbabwe dollar was stronger than the US dollar. 

 The Zimbabwean dream means being able to fully express yourself, being able to enjoy the benefits and opportunities that comes with being the son of the soil.

This is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. 

It should be achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance. 

While the born frees may not understand what the struggle imposed; it is imperative that we locate our roots.

Youths in  Zimbabwe  face challenges  such  as  unemployment,  unaffordable  education,  and lack  of  access  to  health  care  due  to  excessive  poverty,  forced  mobility  (migration)  due to  limited  opportunities,  child  marriages  and  sexual  abuse  of  young  women  among others.

 The youth are undeniably among the most important formidable force and resource a country can have in order to boost its social and economic development. 

In addition to being large in number, the youth are energetic and if they are well coordinated and actively engaged in economic activities, could contribute significantly to socio-economic development.

Some have questioned that is the Zimbabwean dream still possible?

There is a need for the establishment and strengthening of entrepreneurship education in schools and tertiary institutions to foster the development of an entrepreneurial culture among the youth to facilitate self-employment. 

The unavailability of relevant research into challenges like unemployment facing youth in Zimbabwe has led to a limitation of data to inform the development of viable solutions to resolve the problem. 

This entails creating an enabling environment for investment through reduction in the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe. 

Zimbabwe has an agro-based economy, which means its economy is driven by agri-business hence, there is need for full utilisation of agro-companies.

 The Government and policy makers should review job market laws and regulation in order to promote smooth transition of youth from education to job market. 

The Government should facilitate the formalisation of the informal employment sector in order to motivate more youth to engage in different activities which are currently considered to be informal.

Since the majority of African youth live in the rural areas, it is reasonable to argue that the youth programs should also be concentrated in rural areas.

A skills requirements audit in the economy should be carried out so that education and training respond to the needs of industry. 

A good example is polytechnics which are still lagging behind in terms of technology.

Establishing basic skills programs for unemployed youths is a necessity.

That is a wide dissemination of the skills requirements of the economy by local councils and parastatals. 

These can be facilitated by a youth development program whose sole mandate is to develop technical, business and entrepreneurial skills for unemployed youths who have no tertiary and advanced secondary education.