Zimbabwe Launches Phase II of $2.3M Youth Jobs Project Targeting 13 000
The Government of Zimbabwe has launched Phase II of the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (YEE) Project, a four-year national programme aimed at reducing youth unemployment by creating green jobs and promoting entrepreneurship among more than 13 000 young Zimbabweans across five provinces.
Backed by a SEK 30 million (US$2.3 million) grant from the governments of Sweden and Switzerland, the initiative is being implemented through a partnership between the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation.
The programme seeks to harness Zimbabwe’s youthful population—estimated at 67 percent of the total demographic and position it as a driving force in economic development.
Beneficiaries from Harare, Bulawayo, Manicaland, Matabeleland South, and Mashonaland East will be equipped with skills and opportunities in sustainable sectors such as agri-food systems, renewable energy, and other green industries—key pillars in Zimbabwe’s inclusive employment strategy.
Speaking at the launch event held in Harare, Permanent Secretary in the Youth Ministry, Solomon Mhlanga, described the initiative as a critical intervention.
“Today’s launch is not merely a project event, it is a strategic milestone in the Government’s journey to create inclusive, sustainable and decent work opportunities for the youth who constitute 67 percent of the population of Zimbabwe,” he said.
Mhlanga emphasized that the issue of youth unemployment requires a unified societal response. “We realised that as a Government, it is not only our problem, it is everybody’s problem, starting from the family.”
He then praised SNV and other international partners for offering hands-on solutions to youth empowerment.
“The Government has realised that the issue of youth empowerment cannot be dealt with by one agency alone. We want funding partners, we want the private sector, and youth themselves, their families, for us to be able to deal with the problem,” Mhlanga added.
Also present at the event, Mr Dag Sundelin, Head of Development Cooperation at the Swedish Embassy in Zimbabwe, reaffirmed Sweden’s commitment to inclusive growth.
“Sweden is proud to support this project as part of our broader focus on inclusive economic development,” he said.
The programme lays the groundwork for a multi-stakeholder model in youth development, championing cooperation between government ministries, development agencies, families, and the private sector to unlock Zimbabwe’s full economic potential.
-The Herald
