AfDB launches $160 million project to empower youths, women

The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Monday launched a $160 million project to improve the employability and productivity of women and youths in Zimbabwe through skills training and entrepreneurship development.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) will be key implementing partners, utilizing their technical expertise and collaborative approach.

Called the “Skills for Youths and Women Employability and Productivity Project”, it will benefit six production clusters centered on vocational training centres, creating an estimated 3 900 direct jobs and 10 000 indirect jobs in key agricultural value chains like horticulture, goats, and fish farming.

It will increase market access through private off takers for the youth and women around the targeted technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and value chains.

“The project development objective is to increase employment opportunities among youth and women through skills training, increased productivity, market linkages and entrepreneurship in selected agricultural value chains,” said AFDB representative Belinda Chisile.

According to Chisile, the targeted off takers already have export contracts for products in the project’s supported value chains.

They are working with about 2 00 smallholder farmers and plan to increase that number to at least 5 000, exporting 15 to 20 tonnes of horticulture products per week to European markets.

“As you are aware, about 36 percent of Zimbabwe’s 15.7 million people are youthful, presenting a unique opportunity to harness youth as assets of economic transformation and sustainable development,” she said.

However, the economy creates insufficient jobs to adequately utilise the country’s potential. Only 500 000 were created between 2018 and 202, with 73 percent of them in the informal sector.”

The 2025-2028 project aims to enhance the skills and resources of young people and women, enabling them to foster economic transformation.

According to the ILO representative, Miria Mutandwa, the project marks a significant milestone in the organisation’s efforts to empower young people and women through skills development, enterprise promotion, and enhanced employability.

“Through targeted skills training, business development support and strengthened market linkages, we aim to enhance the employability of women and youth, enabling them to become drivers of economic transformation,” she said.
The project builds on three impactful initiatives namely the Youth and Women Empowerment Project (2017-2022), the Sustainable Enterprise

Development for Women and Youth (2022-2026) and the Business Growth for Young Entrepreneurs (2022-2026).
It will provide targeted skills training, business development support, and strengthened market linkages to enhance the employability and productivity of women and youths.

The project will build productivity skills through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, support work-integrated learning through internships and job placements, and link smallholder producers to private sector off-takers and markets.

“The good news is that about 60 percent of the TVET graduates in Zimbabwe are employed, signifying the role of skills training in employment and missed opportunities in TVET.

Zimbabwe has a healthy and evenly distributed network of over 45 public Vocational Training Centres that fall under the Ministry of Youth Empowerment and Vocational
Skills,” said Chisile.

The project aligns with Zimbabwe’s development priorities and the AfDB’s strategies on gender, youth employment, and agricultural transformation across Africa.-New Ziana