QUESTION: What are the problems or limiting factors which

Zim young enterpreneurs are facing?...compiled by Duncan

Chirwa
-Zimbawean economic environment is not palatable and supportive to the young aspiring
enterpreneurs. There is uncertainty in terms of funds, you cannot trade in an environment with no
stable currency. Instead of us focusing on innovation and creativity we’re now focusing on how do I
make money, how do I keep my money safe and where else can I get money. That itself stops you
from creating a product that can sell grow in the system.
- Our youth is lacking PRACTICAL EXPOSURE to the entrepreneurship environment. Currently
the environment has changed to 4IR( 4th Industrial Revolution) and everything is now IOT(Internet Of
Things) and internet connectivity is too slow and unaffordable at the same time and therefore it then
slows down the entrepreneurial zeal. In South Africa there is UBER which links transport systems via
the internet and here we tried VAYA but it failed because of the roadnetworks and support systems
which are down.
- In fouth industrial revolution you need incubation centres where people can meet, discuss business
ideas, entrepreneurial ideas, grow them and spend time with those who have made it like Strive so that
the youth can get a know-how about the journey of an entrepreneur. But here we don’t have such
incubation centres or they are only a few.
- There is lack of financing for youth ideas, the government says it doesn’t have enough money, In
South Africa there is BEE(Black Economic Empowerment) in which funds are released to those who
need to do business. We need to go back to the basics where there can be inflow of funds into the
government and if there is any extra funds, then they can be diverted to supporting the aspiring young
enterpreneurs.
- COMPANY REGISTRATION is also a problem for the young enterpreneurs here in Zimbabwe,
the speed of registering a company is very slow. In South Africa it takes about 3 days to register a
company and Rwanda about 45 minutes to register a company and start operating. Here in Zim it
takes about 6 months and that slows down the entrepreneur and it makes someone lose the
entrepreneurial zeal.
-PROPERTY RIGHTS-Big firms are stealing young people’s ideas and get away with it because we
have poor legal resource and straight forward maps that makes young people protect their ideas even
when looking for funding it has to be secured and econet is becoming one of those monsters.
-POOR MENTORSHIP- Some ideas are very brilliant even ventures and all but because there’s no
one to guide and warn, these youths once earning a bit they go astray and end up losing both business
and the money and some buy shoes, cars and fancy liquor.
-PRESENTATION SKILLS- At times someone might have the money to fund the idea or business
but there are no records of how it operates, the young man/woman cant even explain what they built
and how it operates so they end up losing investors to inject money in their business.
-POOR IDEAS- Some ideas are situational, they will not last longer in the long run. We need
sustainable business solutions and these are real businesses e.g econet, whether you like it or not one
way or the other you will need to call or whatsapp.
-POLITICS: In Zimbabwe its very hard to do something productive if you’re not linked to the ruling
party. You cannot get a mining claim or land if you’re not linked to the party.
-ENVIRONMENT- The economic environment is just not conjucive, there are powercuts, unstable
currency, water rationing, low demand cause people don’t have money. People are just prioritizing the
basics these days. Zimbabwe is structured in such a way called oligarchy, which means that the
country is only run by a few elite people. These few elite people dominate every sector of the
economy and its very hard to start something and compete against them. For example if you wanna
get into mining they wont give you a mining claim, they wont give you the land. If you wanna get into
telecommunications, Strive is already there and is dominating the market. There are opportunities
though in some sectors and its very hard to identify the opportunities. Only a few youths have the
ability to identify these opportunities and if you do identify them, you’ll face capital constrains.

- To talk about entrepreneurship, there are 4 things that must be available:

1. Capital- which is the resources that you need for you to coordinate any enterpreurial idea and its
inclusive of money and equipment.In Zimbabwe you need to have collateral for you to get a loan. No
bank will give you a loan if you don’t have collateral and at a younger age its close to impossible to
have colateral. If you don’t have collateral you need to have a solid and detailed business plan and
maybe someone might give you a loan but very few youths have very solid plans that are so
convincing. Enterpreneurship is not just about doing what everyone else is doing, its about starting
something of your own and you need to convince people that you’re going to do it differently. Very
few youths have that ability.
2. Labour- here we focus much on the intellectual side of things and therefore neglecting the practical
side and this goes back to the educational system which is more theoretical than practical and
therefore when the youths graduate, they don’t have the practical skills that can help them tackle the
everyday challenges in an entrepreneurial approach. Therefore there is need to change the system and
equip tertiary institutions because you will find that our Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering
laboratories and worshops are not equipped.
3. Land- We have vast of land but we cannot utilize it and it goes back to the issue of capital because
you give me land but I do not have capital and therefore only tress and shrubs will grow on the land.
4. Enterpreneurship itself- here we talk about the skill to coordinate those 3 to come up with a
natural, original idea that can grow into a business. We no longer have the youth that can think
originally but we are trying to change ideas that have been developed by someone else forgetting our
own personal, local problems.
In conclusion we should look more into solving our problems and monitise the idea, look for
sustainable solutions, adapt in these ever changing environments and factor in technology in the
idea.