By Andile Thebe
Maphisa has a growing economy, largely consisting of entrepreneurs, miners and farmers, with some individuals venturing into more than one discipline.
With existing high unemployment rates in the region, through their innovative ways in the area, entrepreneurs have started their micro enterprises that are income generating and at the same time creating employment for others.
Entrepreneurship has been noted to be a powerful tool that can be used to address social and economic challenges as the sector brings about employment creation, economic growth, and poverty alleviation, empowerment of marginalised groups like women and youth and above all infrastructural development in an area.
Youths that venture into entrepreneurship become less vulnerable and can evade drug and substance abuse as they will spend more time focusing on maintaining and growing their business.
Entrepreneurs in areas such as Maphisa and Bidi area in Matobo focus on vending, hairdressing activities, grocery retailing, dressmaking, farming, mining, carpentry and welding.
In running their businesses, entrepreneurs, face challenges such as lack of investment to grow their businesses, limited knowledge and skills of running a profitable business hence some of these micro enterprises shutdown after being operational for short spaces of time.
In a bid to improve the way they run their businesses, the youths plan to register their businesses and increase their market base and ease to access raw materials and products for resale, others are also interested in acquiring skills and the knowledge on how to run profitable businesses.
The government has been making efforts to capacitate small to medium enterprises through offering loans and grant schemes, in some cases assisting the youth to register their companies.
These efforts are however hindered by poor information dissemination, which results in youths missing these opportunities.
For these enterprises to thrive, there is a need for a vocational and training centre to be established to enhance skills and knowledge especially on these young entrepreneurs and a safe space to accommodate them to run their small enterprises.
In a bid to address the challenges faced by young entrepreneurs in the region, Matobo Youth Development Initiative (MYDI) is implementing a programme which is meant to empower young entrepreneurs through identifying their challenges and finding ways to address them. This includes capacitation on business management, enhancing their skills and creating sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem.
MYDI is also in the process of constructing a Youth Incubation Centre in Matobo Ward 9, which is going to be a platform for technical and leadership skills development so that young people are able to contribute to the development and growth of the rural economy.
Andile Thebe is the MYDI Project Officer for the Young Entrepreneurs of Zimbabwe Arise (YEZA) project and works closely with young entrepreneurs in Matobo District by identifying their businesses and providing support and also linking them up with markets, financial institutions and upskilling opportunities. She can be reached at +263782683513.
