By Shephard Majengeta
EVERYONE can, and should, be an entrepreneur in Zimbabwe.
An indigenous entrepreneurial class should have long taken over.
We have the most conducive environment to thrive.
Our people have been prepared for it; each successive war we have waged and emerged victorious has strengthened and showed us we can do anything, achieve any set goals.
Vision 2030, of an upper-middle income economy is where our focus is, indeed should be.
It is now a self-evident truth that in Zimbabwe we no longer expect the whiteman to come from the West to rescue us.
The challenges of the current generation have changed from job-hunting to opportunity-hunting.
To achieve Vision 2030, Zimbabwe needs you, Zimbabwe needs me and Zimbabwe needs all of us.
As a people, we should no longer expend our energies seeking jobs but spend our time on opportunity and capital hunting.
Zimbabwe needs you.
Before you are a father or a mother, a sister or brother, an uncle or aunt, a grandmother or grandfather, you are first and foremost a Zimbabwean.
We all know that Zimbabwe means ‘house of stone’, but have we reflected on the true meaning of the name of our nation?
Ours is a name that comes with connotations of strength, solidity and durability.
It is a name that stands for something that cannot easily be swept away
The only critical ingredient to our success, to achieving our aspirations, is the knowledge that it is I who is needed, that it is I who is the missing link, that it is my contribution lacking to complete the picture.
The country’s biggest programmes to date, the liberation struggles, the First and Second Chimurenga, the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme as well as indigenisation of the economy, have necessitated the creation of a new economy, an indigenous economy, a new way of operating and engaging.
The message from these programmes resonates with the indigene who understands that it is no longer a ‘business-as-usual-approach’ required to succeed.
We have been through the wringer and lived to tell all about it.
To achieve Vision 2030 we must understand a few basic truths and realities.
It is imperative that we all be on the same page, it is essential that we do not listen to lies.
It is a truth overlooked that, economy-wise, we are starting from ground-zero.
I recommend that every Zimbabwean read the book ‘Paradigm Shifters – Re-inventing Your World’ published in 2013.
We cannot continue mourning, crying foul and blaming others other than ourselves.
“Those who master the art of metamorphosis rise above the confines and constraints of their immediate milieu and assume invincibility in the face of insurmountable challenges,” write Elton Mutize and Lovemore Tembo in ‘Paradigm Shifters – Re-inventing Your World’.
“They push existing boundaries, smash barriers and create new frontiers.
They become the vanguard of human accomplishment; the famed Paradigm Shifters, those who establish new realities.”
There are no excuses for failure.
Vision 2030 will come to fruition just by complete dedication to achieving it.
According to Mutize and Tembo: “It is time that no longer should there be hundreds of thousands of degreed individuals on African streets seeking employment.
There should be an avalanche of African employers magnetically attracting the expertise of the world’s top expatriates
It is not unusual to hear one say, If I had enough money to invest, I would surely go into business.
If I had a good job I would have my own car.
If I had wealthy parents, I could be enjoying the best education on offer.
We don’t need more strength or more ability or greater opportunity.
What we need is to use what we have.”
Zimbabwe has to look at no-one else but within.
It should look up to its human capital for solutions, to you and I, to revamp ailing industries, get manufacturing into full gear and re-position the country as SADC’s bread-basket.
The human capital is the most valued resource that any nation has and, as a country, we boast the highest literacy rate in Africa at 92 percent.
Thus we should not be cracking our heads trying to find solutions to revamp our economy.
The answer is right before our eyes.
It is you and I, the human capital.
