Embrace digital economy skills, youths urged
INDUSTRY and Commerce Minister, Dr Sekai Nzenza, has urged the youth to embrace digital economy skills and come up with innovative business ideas to reap full dividends from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Addressing more than 1 000 youths drawn from all provinces who attended the inaugural National Youth Business Expo in Bulawayo last Friday, she said the expo has come in handy in driving youth participation and contribution in the mainstream economy.
AfCFTA
This, she said, was critical towards attaining Vision 2030’s goal of an upper middleincome economy and positioning local entrepreneurs to realise AfCFTA gains.
The AfCFTA is the flagship project of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which aims to boost intra-African trade by providing a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement among the member states, covering trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy.
“This Agreement brings with it many advantages if we can increase our supplies to the Free Trade Area while on the other hand it brings in more competition if we cannot improve our competitiveness,” said Dr Nzenza.
“In this regard, I would like to say that our economy depends upon the youths as they are the vital productive and entrepreneurial cog through which we can implement the AfCFTA Agreement successfully.”
The minister said one of the key issues highlighted during the recent Davos Economic Summit was for Africa to embrace AfCFTA and produce locally and be able to find markets within and outside the continent.
“One of the key issues out of Davos was Africa is at the right time to transform, innovate and also embrace digitalisation,” she said.
“Before Covid-19, digitalisation was like a luxury, but now we cannot afford to do that anymore. We have to embrace it.
Covid-19
“So, young entrepreneurs should start thinking in terms of digital transformation. This is where we are going.”
To that end, Dr Nzenza said the youth expo was in line with the Local Content Strategy being advanced by her ministry.
“This strategy seeks to promote usage, production and beneficiation of local produce in all sectors of our economy,” she said.
“As such, the youth being the vital cog in our nation’s development, need to take advantage of this policy and come up with new products and new ways of value-adding our nation’s rich natural resource endowments, for greater export revenues or reduced import bill.
Youth entrepreneurship
“This way, Government is directing its efforts in ensuring that youths are not just employment seekers but also employment creators. As such, our belief is supporting youth entrepreneurship in enhancing the economy’s employment capacity.”
The expo was geared at assisting young entrepreneurs from the country’s 10 provinces to grow their business potential and tap into local and global trade markets.
It was organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, with the support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), and ran under the theme: “Revitalising and Empowering Youth Business Across Value Chain”. — The Chronicle
