Story by Josephine Mugiyo
PRESIDENT Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa says Zimbabwe’s youthful population holds immense untapped intellectual potential that can drive national development if adequately supported through education and opportunity.
The President made the remarks during the ED UNZA Scholarship fundraising dinner held in Harare, where about US$2.5 million was raised to support the initiative.
The ED UNZA Scholarship, founded by President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2019, supports academically gifted students to study at the University of Zambia, where the President himself obtained his law degree.
Addressing members of the business community during the event, President Mnangagwa underscored the need to nurture the potential of young people across the country.
“Whilst our countries remain richly endowed with God-given natural resources, I believe that our untapped wealth also lies within the vast potential and intellectual prowess of our youthful population. Across our rural and urban communities, there are brilliant young men and women with the capacity to transform our societies,” President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa said.
The President noted that the scholarship initiative was inspired by the belief that talent is widespread, but opportunities are not always equally available.
”As an alumni of the University of Zambia, I founded this initiative on an enduring principle that talent is universal, but opportunity is not. It is my conviction that collectivism and shared leadership entail the distribution of what we have to uplift others. In this case, we must never tire in our quest to empower the youth and create opportunities for children within Zimbabwe and Zambia so that they realise their full potential and achieve impactful careers,” he added.
President Mnangagwa also highlighted the critical role played by the private sector in strengthening the education sector through partnerships and resource mobilisation.
He emphasised that no academically gifted young person should fail to pursue their education due to financial constraints.
