Zimbabwe's skills base stands at 38.25%, leaving a 61.75% gap in critical areas needed to drive economic growth and industrial development, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Frederick Shava has said.
Speaking at the High-Level Ministerial and Parliamentary Roundtable of Africa Skills Week 2026 in Harare, which began on Monday, Shava said the findings of the country's 2018 national critical skills audit highlighted significant shortages in key sectors.
The audit, described by Shava as Zimbabwe's first comprehensive assessment of its kind in 34 years, found shortages of about 94% in engineering and technology and 97% in natural and applied sciences.
It also revealed a mismatch between the skills produced by universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and those required by employers.
"These findings were not a verdict of failure. They were a mandate for transformation," Shava said.
"The audit exposed a fundamental disconnect between what our institutions were teaching and what our industries needed."
He said the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF) had invested US$50 million in TVET over the past 18 months, including support for apprenticeship programmes.
ZIMDEF collects a 1% training levy from registered employers and uses the funds to finance apprenticeships, equip tertiary institutions, develop infrastructure and provide rebates to businesses investing in workforce training.
However, Shava acknowledged that challenges remained, including fragmented coordination among institutions, incomplete labour market information systems and difficulties in ensuring that graduates acquire skills relevant to the changing economy.
“Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo!” (Zimbabwe will be built by Zimbabweans!) is a catch slogan but, the truth be told, Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown, forget the economic boom needed to achieve vision 2030, has continued. The national economy responses to sound economic policies and not wishful slogans! “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo!” is just an idiotic slogan. Period!
The Zanu PF regime acknowledges that there is a “shortages of about 94% in engineering and technology and 97% in natural and applied sciences!” 46 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and tyrannical oppression have left the country is economic ruins and political paralysis. Millions of Zimbabweans, including highly skilled professionals, have left the country in droves as economic and/or political refugees.
So if there is such a chasm shortage, 94%, of engineers - who is building Zimbabwe brick by brick?
The nation has many examples of mega deal projects that have taken forever to complete such as the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls road and other like the late Wicknell Chivayo US$50 million 100MW Gwanda Solar Plant, ZESA paid him the money and all they ever got was a security guard hut!
Mnangagwa’s promise to turn Zimbabwe into an upper middle income nation by 2030, the so called vision 2030, is a lie! He conned his party and the nation to pass CAA3 extending his stay in office by 2 years on the basis of a lie!
Many Zimbabweans are aware vision 2030 is a mirage and this will become mockingly obvious with each passing day as the country sinks deeper and deeper into abject poverty. 49.2% of Zimbabweans are living on US$3 or less a day, according to a recent WB report. Will Zimbabweans still buy the nonsense of postponing 2028 elections on the basis of an obvious and mocking lie of vision 2030?
This is the question that is keeping Mnangagwa and his cronies awake at night! And Minister Shava’s admission of the yawning gap of skilled manpower - proof there is no meaningful development because there are no engineers, etc. to rebuild the shattered economy - is just one more nail in the Zanu PF coffin!
22 comments:
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AJEmvayrAOJL
What Chiwenga and his supporters highlighted at the Zanu PF 2026 conference is that Mnangagwa's ED2030 Agenda cum CAB3 cum CAA3 seeking to extend Mnangagwa's stay in office beyond 2028 is an imposition. What Mnangagwa has done is what he has always done in similar circumstances - bully and bamboozle every one and pretend every one agreed.
"If everybody agrees with everybody, something is wrong. You should have urgent views but at the end agree on a common trajectory." proclaimed Mnangagwa.
The bottom line is Mnangagwa imposed CAB3 and now he is implementing it, full steam ahead! He should be warned that postponing 2028 elections on the basis of a lie, that he will deliver vision 2030, has dire consequences. The nation will know it is being short changed and will push back!
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AJEmvayrAOJL
The just ended Zanu PF's 2026 party conference has shown, once again, that many in the party do not want Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3). In a party like Zanu PF were dissent is not tolerated it took a lot of courage for VP Chiwenga and his supporters to remind the party that CAB3 does not have public support. CAB3 is an imposition!
The party conference has come out with new resolutions and they all point to the party going full-steam ahead with implementing CAB3. The dissenting voices have, once again, been ignored.
The party has resolved to punish all those who "absconded and failed to support CAB3" and, more onminously, the party has resolved that Mnangagwa will be "the sole Zanu PF's presidential candidate for the 2029 party congress". The party is clearing the path for Mnangagwa to remain president beyond 2030. The party is clearing the way for CAB4 for purpose is to scrap the two term presidential limit!
Mnangagwa is not contend with just 2 more years beyond 2028. He wants more!
Mugabe was top dog for 37 years and it took a military coup to force him out of office. Mnangagwa wants the same! And short of yet another coup, there is no stopping him imposing himself on the nation. What a nightmare!
Mnangagwa can and must be stopped by demanding that the 2028 elections must go ahead without failure. CAB3 calls for the elections to be postponed to 2030 - forget that nonsense! Stopping Mnangagwa is the number one task of this generation! The are dire consequences if we fail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URGGX6-H0tM
Is VP Chiwenga’s speech at the recent Zanu PF party conference going to change anything?
Alas! The answer has to be no. His speech was “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!” in the true and full William Shakespearean sense of that phrase!
Chiwenga was by Mnangagwa's side in the 2008 Operation Mavhotera Papi, punishing the people for having dared to reject Zanu PF. Was he fighting in the people's corner then? Now he wants to pretend he is the people's champion because it suits his purpose in the factional war with Mnangagwa. He just wants to USE the people!
Mugabe was equally cocky and cocksure until the morning he woke up with a gun up his arse!
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1qJVmyYQbkMGB
"Unity is our greatest strength!" boasted Mnangagwa. So why the endless factional wars and why is Zimbabwe a failed state?
If Zanu PF was such a great and united party then why is Zimbabwe is such a mess! Mnangagwa is just a buffoon and, like every other buffoon, believes there is nothing he cannot do!
“Zimbabwe is open for business!” Mnangagwa announced with in days of getting into power in 2017. He was cocksure his mantra will open a flood gate of investors and kick start the Zimbabwe economy. There was not even a trickle of investors much less a flood.
Minister Garwe say owners who fail to maintain their properties will be punished!
This is madness given 49.2% of the population are living on US$3 or less per day!
D Mutasa got a new vehicle from Mnangagwa.
The chefs are the ones who have received the lion's share of Zimbabwe’s wealth ever since the country’s independence, followed by the ordinary war veterans, most of whom got a bicycle and povo got nothing!
@Tr Bernard
“Yes he was with him but his past can not override his present. His speech while its not a game changer it was full of thought. An insightful and relevant speech. His history is but but lets give praise where it deserves. Remember even a broken clock gives correct time twice a day. It can lie many times but by accident gives correct time twice a day.”
This is just the nauseating stupidity that has allowed corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs to stay in power and destroy the nation.
The mark of a good leaders is putting the good of Rome above the glory of Caesar! By launching operation Mavhotera Papi Mnangagwa and Chiwenga showed that they did not care about the good of Zimbabwe and would even kill innocent people just to secure their selfish interests of retaining absolute power at all cost! This was not an accident but a deliberate and calculated move. Only an idiot would dismiss this as nothing!
https://www.facebook.com/wilbert.mukori.5/videos/1681810233276770
Government will punish all those living in "dilapidated" homes and properties, Minister Garwe has announced. Shocking!
Does the minister know that 49.2% of our people are living on US$3 or less per day? So these people must now give up on that one meal a day, on medicine and other basic necessities to pay for repairs and a fresh coat of paint!
The overwhelming majority of rural homes are not fit for human habitation. Is the Minister going to punish these rural folk too. He should be reminded that Zanu PF has denied rural povo title deeds to even one acre of land for selfish political reasons - a carry over from thew Smith government!
@ With his mercy
"Madii kumbomira imi zvoto zvinemazera izvi."
Just answer the question! The nation has been waiting for good governance for 46 years, how much longer are we supposed to wait?
@ Mars art and culture
"To start with...
How can a sanctioned country hold free and fair elections...especially when the opposition is being aided by the same sanctions...
The good part and what we advocated for is the success of CAA3...though we wanted a total ban of elections in Zimbabwe.."
So why did Mnangagwa claim 2023 elections were free and fair if he know the elections were rigged and he had good reason to rig the elections?
@ African
A comprehensive review of prevailing arguments reveals a fundamental misattribution of responsibility regarding electoral integrity. The assertion that targeted sanctions — measures principally directed at individuals and entities implicated in human rights concerns — impede the administration of free and fair elections does not withstand institutional scrutiny. The core tenets of electoral credibility, including the maintenance of a transparent voter roll, equitable access to state media, timely procurement of ballot materials, and the unimpeded operation of domestic observers and political actors, are functions of domestic administrative capacity and political will. Attributing deficiencies in these areas to external measures represents a deflection of accountability from the institutions constitutionally mandated to deliver such processes.
Similarly, the narrative that seeks to delegitimize domestic opposition through association with sanctions constitutes a well-established rhetorical device that conflates legitimate citizen grievance with external interference. Sanctions do not cast ballots nor administer campaign logistics. The instrumentalization of sanctions discourse as a blanket explanation for economic contraction, administrative inefficiency, and governance deficits has the effect of obscuring the need for internal reform while simultaneously seeking to discredit legitimate political competition by framing dissent as foreign-sponsored.
Finally, the proposal to embrace Constitutional Amendment Act No. 3, or to institute a total suspension of direct presidential elections, must be assessed for its implications for popular sovereignty. Replacing direct universal suffrage with an indirect parliamentary appointment, or extending executive tenure through legislative amendment, does not resolve the challenge of electoral contestation; it effectively removes the electorate from the equation. Such measures, presented as mechanisms for stability, constitute a substantive curtailment of the citizen's right to directly choose the Head of State and a departure from the principle that governmental legitimacy derives from the direct will of the people."
To justify rigging elections on the grounds there were sanctions is as idiotic as beating one's wife and children because you were beaten at the beer hall! Rigging elections denies a rural peasant his/her right to a meaningful vote; what did he/she have to do with the sanction?
Madam you have such a selective memory, it is sickening. What Mnangagwa is doing is is 2008 Operation Mavhotera Papi mark 2. We are dealing with Zanu PF thugs here which makes your support of Chiwenga so sickening.
In 2017 we swapped one dictator for another and the last thing we should not do is repeat the same folly! FM!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1r_4eOI1gg
Zimbabwe “is governed by its own people” Mnangagwa has said repeatedly. No one will ever be fooled by that. Zimbabwe is not a democracy - "government of the people, by the people and for the people" - because the nation has never ever held free, fair and credible elections. Never ever!
The March 2008 vote was the nearest the nation ever got to holding free and fair elections. Before ZEC could announce the result Mnangagwa and Chiwenga intervened to wrestle power from MDC and, more cynically, to punish Zimbabweans for having dare to reject Zanu PF.
So when Mnangagwa says Zimbabwe "is governed by its people" he means “is governed by Zanu PF cum Mnangagwa!” - which is a totally different kettle of fish!
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OxwbnrkaeNJB
It is foolish of Zanu PF supporters to argue that they should not have their houses demolished because they are "Zanu PF supporters"! The right own property is a fundamental right as is the right to a meaningful vote, etc. Zanu PF ruling elite have denied millions of Zimbabweans their fundamental rights and the last thing we want is Zanu PF supporters giving traction to the argument the party has a right to none party members their rights!
Opposition supporters rubbing their hands in glee at Zanu PF supporters being denying their rights is shameful particularly when the both supporters are guilty of Zimbabwe's economic and political mess. Both supporters's blind loyalty to their leaders is the root cause the political leaders have conned the supporters to do foolish things!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5pUb4vweLiM
Chiwenga’s speech at the 2026 Chinhoyi Zanu PF party Conference was a repeat of the late Blessed “Bombshell” Gaza’s January 2025 “bulls***t outburst”. Gaza’s rallying call for the nation to reject Mnangagwa’s ED2030 Agenda failed to get any popular support because the people objected to Mnangagwa's power grab but they also saw they will not end the dictatorship, which is their primary concern.
People supported 2017 coup believing it would end the Zanu PF dictatorship; it did not. People are wary of being "used" again!
For full video see YouTube, FaceBook and X "Chiwenga is a murderous thug, he is not a democrat. No one was fooled by his Chinhoyi speech!"
Over 100 shops demolished in Rutenga.
Zanu PF is securing its iron grip on power by making everyone else poor and helpless!
This is precisely why Zanu PF has stubborning refused to grant title deed and insist on offer letters which the party knows has no legal value!
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1qKDzWZRrdVJV
Zanu Pf has stepped up the demolition of shops and houses from urban areas to now rural Growth Points. The last few days the regime's demolition team was busy at Rutenga Growth Point in Masvingo Province. Why is the regime doing this?
To understand why, one must understand why the regime has stubbornly denied the rural folk title deeds to even one acres of land. Smith unbderstood that givining rural blacks title deeds to even one acre of land would economically empower them. He feared that an economically empowered black would demand political empowerment next. He did not want to give blacks the vote. Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies have denied rural blacks title deeds for the same selfish political reasons.
The owners of shops and decent houses at Growth Points represent a growing economically empowered rural electorate and thus a threat to Zanu PF's political strangle hold. Demolishing the shops, etc. reminds the owners that Zanu PF is the boss!
The tragedy for Zimbabwe is the nation is being held to ransom because that is the only way Zanu PF can fulfil its ambition to rule forever! We have allowed this madness to last for 46 years and counting!
https://www.facebook.com/wilbert.mukori.5/videos/2256944921894609
Mnangagwa and his cronies started pushing for ED 2030 Agenda to extend Mnangagwa's stay in power for 2 more years beyond 2028 to 2030 as far back as 2023. The argument was that Mnangagwa was doing such a splendid job Zimbabwe's economy was booming and set to become an upper middle income state by 2030 - hence vision 2030.
Mnangagwa has been in power for 9 years since the November 2017 military coup and there has been no notable economic recovery, much less the economic boom to increase the GPD per capita three fold from US$2k to US$6k. How they arrived at the 2030 delivery date is yet another hyperbole.
It is one thing to rig the elections, rig the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3), etc.; rigging the economy is a different ball game! Mnangagwa is not going to deliver vision 2030. And what is more he has known this all along!
No wonder he pushed for ED 2030 Agenda cum CAB3 early, demand his bonus a.s.a.p. before the people wake up to the reality that vision 2030 is a mirage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldbGVuEECu4
Mnangagwa started pushing to have his stay in office extended beyond 2028 when his maximum 10 years was going to end soon after the 2023 elections. Vision 2030! The argument, championed by Minister Daniel Garwe, was that he was doing a great job as president and was set to turn Zimbabwe into an upper middle income state if he is given the 2 additional years. Just 2!
It was all nonsense because there was no sign of any meaningful economic recovery then much less the economic boom to deliver vision 2030. As the 2028 election date approaches the people will know they were conned and they will demand CAB3 must be scrapped to allow for fresh elections.
No wonder Mnangagwa is worried about increased political instability, he invited this on himself by imposing CAB3. Vision 2030 is a mirage and postponing election on the basis of a mirage is an insult to every thinking Zimbabwean out there!
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1DGLdZznknkGm
A serious drought is upon us and we are not ready for it!
Countries like Zimbabwe will be caught with their pants down. Zimbabwe used to be the bread basket of the region and that end following Zanu PF’s seizure of white owned farms that started in 2000. The regime gave the farms to Zanu PF ruling elite and their cronies. The drought will hit and our gain silos are empty!
Zimbabwe has been dragged into this economic and political mess because the nation has been stuck for 46 years with the corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime and its equally corrupt and utterly useless MDC/CCC side-kick. As long as the double curse of rigged elections and bad governance remains Zimbabwe will continue to sink deeper and deeper into the abyss.
Zimbabwe's failure to resolve the problem of good governance is now urgent more than ever before; not only are hundreds of thousands of lives at stake, this is an existential threat!
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