Taboka Ncube/Tobias Mudzingwa
A group of young entrepreneurs has launched Hozi Innovator, a United States Embassy-supported youth organization that empowers beneficiaries with various business skills.
Hozi Innovator was recently awarded a grant by the U.S Embassy in Zimbabwe to implement a project titled “Imparting entrepreneurial skills to underprivileged young people in urban and rural Zimbabwe.”
The organization held a training workshop in Harare on Tuesday designed to impart skills to local youth intending to launch businesses or develop their entreprises.
Leslie Makwembere, one of the four Hozi Innovator founders, says they will train youths from all parts of the country.
“We came together and got a grant under the alumni engagement innovation fund. We planned for this event, this is the first of a series of trainings to empower young people with entrepreneurship skills.”
U.S Embassy in Zimbabwe Public Diplomacy Officer, Rebecca Archer-Knepper, says her country is committed to supporting young Zimbabweans in implementing what they learn during exchange programs in the U.S.
“We have thousands of alumni working in Zimbabwe creating really positive change in our communities and so we provide funding so they can take what they learnt in the US and apply it here in Zimbabwe, share it with other people and have a ripple effect.”
Many young Zimbabweans are forced to start their own businesses due to high unemployment rates. An architectural designer, Lenon Chihova, says trainings like the one organized by Hozi Innovator will help youths build sustainable businesses.
“Trainings like the one organized by Hozi Innovator will help them boost our businesses and give us the skills we need to succeed in business.”
Some of the youths who attended the launch in Harare said they need such training especially at a time when Zimbabwe is facing serious economic challenges. Chantel Chinhema from Harare's Southlea Park suburb, is bullish that having gone through today's entrepreneurs training, her business idea will flourish.
The grant project will be implemented in Harare, Mutare, Gweru and Bulawayo targeting to train 240 underprivileged youths with the help of implementing partners, EduFri from Eswatini and Jacobson Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship at the University of Iowa, U.S.A .
Participants will have an opportunity to pitch their businesses for money and in the end get certificates of training from Hozi Innovator in conjunction with the Jacobson Institute.
The curriculum introduces the concept of entrepreneurship, including identifying characteristics of an entrepreneur, evaluating opportunities, engaging in customer discovery, design thinking, feasibility, financing, and planning for success.
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