By Itai Ndongwe
KADOMA – At least 43 innovators from across Zimbabwe have graduated from the Start Your Business (SYB) Training Programme this week, emerging equipped with practical tools to transform their ideas into viable enterprises.
The programme, hosted by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) in Kadoma, was designed to push participants beyond inspiration into structured, disciplined business development.
At the official opening, organisers stressed that innovation alone is insufficient without sound business strategy, financial discipline and a clear understanding of markets. The graduation of the 43 participants signals progress toward that objective.
Addressing the graduates, POTRAZ Director for the Universal Service Fund, Mr Kennedy Dewera, representing Director General Dr Gift Machengete, said the training aligns with a broader national vision of building sustainable, resilient and market-driven enterprises.
“Under the Potraz Innovation Drive and the National Innovation Acceleration Centre framework, we are developing innovators who can transform ideas into sustainable enterprises that create jobs, deploy local technologies and contribute meaningfully to Zimbabwe’s digital economy,” said Dewera.
He urged graduates to translate knowledge into action, quoting inventor Thomas Edison: “Vision without execution is hallucination.”
Participants received practical training in market analysis, regulatory compliance, financial planning and investment readiness — all critical components in converting innovation into commercially viable ventures.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Tanaka Masaiti from Chinhoyi University of Technology described the workshop as transformative, shifting his mindset from academic theory to practical entrepreneurship.
“The training helped us understand how to structure ideas into profitable ventures that align with national development priorities,” Masaiti said, referencing Zimbabwe’s Education 5.0 model and the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
Masaiti and his partner are developing sustainable poultry feed solutions aimed at decentralising production and stimulating rural industrialisation in areas such as Chipinge.
Another participant, Ezekiel Chimana of Satchel Online Academy, said the SYB programme helped reposition him from being solely an innovator to becoming an entrepreneur.
His venture, a smart mushroom house, an Internet of Things (IoT)-based mushroom production kit, addresses constraints such as limited space and seasonal farming. The system uses climate control technology to enable year-round mushroom production, including exotic varieties such as button mushrooms, making small-scale cultivation more accessible and commercially viable.
The graduation of the 43 innovators reflects a growing push to formalise Zimbabwe’s innovation ecosystem by coupling creativity with commercial discipline — a key requirement for scaling local solutions into competitive businesses within the digital economy.
