WITH unemployment estimated at over 80%, entrepreneurship could be an option to help alleviate chronic job shortages in the country, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development chief entrepreneurship advisor Fiorina Mugione has said.
Report by Byron Jele
Mugione, who was speaking at the Empretec Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship workshop in Harare last Thursday, said the government should remove red tape in order to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship and start-ups.
She said in neighbouring Zambia, it took just four hours to register a business.
“Small-to-medium-enterprises governments and the private sector should work closely to ensure the longevity of start-ups and entrepreneurships.
“The government has a bigger role to play to reduce the red tape of registering a business as well as cost of doing business,” Mugione said.
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“Obstacles to finance and inadequate policy, need to be addressed in order for the informal sector to start making a meaningful and measurable contribution to the economy.”
She said it was critical that entrepreneurship be taught from a young age and introduced at primary school.
Zimbabwe has the highest rate of unemployment in the Southern African region due to its economic decline over the last decade, with corresponding negative effects on the well-being and skill development of youths.
The country’s steep economic decline had also caused the rate on youth unemployment to soar.