PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to create a conducive environment for young Zimbabweans to innovate, instead of leaving the country to seek opportunities elsewhere.
Speaking at a National Research, Science, Technology and Innovation conference in Harare yesterday, Mnangagwa said many developed countries rely on the brains of immigrants from developing countries to drive their economies.
“I think you all know that most of the developed countries, which we call the first world; most of the brains in those countries are not citizens. These countries go worldwide especially in developing countries scouting for bright boys and girls and bring them to their own institutions,” he said.
“We have several Zimbabweans in America, the United Kingdom and Europe in higher places producing products and services of the highest quality, unfortunately the credit goes to those countries not to where the girl or boy was born.”
He said the government was committed to creating an environment where young people can innovate and contribute to the development of their country.
“At every State university, innovation hubs should be constructed and we as government will put funds so that our talented boys and girls can dream. Some of the dreams can translate into a project or a product of service. However other dreams will remain dreams,” he said.
Mnangagwa said there was need for legal minds to come on board and protect all outputs of research and innovation to protect intellectual property generated in the country.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga called for the extension of education 5.0 to primary and secondary levels.
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“This will create an effective identification and grounding of our future scientists at an early stage.
“Therefore, I urge stakeholders to burn their midnight candles and come up with a curriculum for primary and secondary levels that suits our Excellency’s vision,” he said, while also calling on research institutions to join hands to help turn around the country’s economy.”