Story by Mercy Bofu-Matinha
MASVINGO-THE 2025 edition of the Innovation Drive Ideathon, hosted by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), brought together 30 young innovators from across the country in Masvingo, with 18 of them receiving seed funding to further develop their innovative solutions.
The five-day event, held under the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, focused on empowering young minds to develop tech-driven solutions to national challenges.
The winners were selected from five thematic areas: agriculture, energy, public service, financial technology (fintech), and tourism.
Among the winners was Innocent Greats, who walked away with US$8 000 in support of his agri-tech solution aimed at creating a digital network linking farmers, buyers, transporters, and warehouses.
“I’m so excited to be the winner of the agro-tech category. Agriculture has always been my passion. My solution focuses on improving market access for smallholder farmers by connecting the value chain players through a digital platform,” he said.
Another winner, Lionel Chenyika, developed an innovative road safety and insurance solution called Cyberspace Smart Insurances, which incentivises safe driving through tailored insurance products.
“My solution promotes road safety through customised vehicle insurance. It is encouraging to receive this support from the government and POTRAZ. This is a step forward for digital transformation in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Guest of Honour, the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Honourable Tatenda Mavetera, commended the participants and reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting youth-led innovation.
“As a ministry, we recognise that Zimbabwe’s future prosperity hinges on our ability to harness the creativity of our people especially our youth to solve pressing challenges through digital solutions,” she said.
POTRAZ Director General, Dr Gift Machengete, praised the high calibre of applications received and the passion demonstrated by the finalists.
“We are gathered at the close of an extraordinary five-day journey defined by passion, collaboration and a deep commitment to digital innovation. We received 248 applications from across Zimbabwe. Selecting only 30 was no easy task. The ideas presented were of exceptional quality. This was more than a competition it was a national dialogue and a call to action,” he said.
Since the inception of the Innovation Drive programme in 2016, nearly 200 young Zimbabweans have received start-up capital and technical support to turn their ideas into viable solutions.
As the 2025 Ideathon concludes, attention now turns to implementation and scale-up of the winning projects, which are expected to play a critical role in addressing national development priorities through technology.
