Youths in business, who have taken a courageous role to embark on entrepreneurship projects, should be commended and supported, Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry has said.
She made the remarks on Tuesday during the EmpowerBank Limited Youth Business Awards held at a local hotel in Harare.
Minister Coventry, herself a decorated Olympian who has dominated the sports sector as a swimmer, invoked personal experiences to star dome and encouraged youths to keep going even if the going gets tough.
“I am proud of what young people have achieved. There are always excuses to start (businesses), but I want to commend you, those who have started.
“Once you reach a certain level in your businesses – business is competitive, so take time to recognise those wins.
“Once you reach a certain breakthrough keep pushing, the more you push these boundaries the more incredible things happen,” said Minister Coventry.
“There will always be bumps along the way. Keep being competitive, wanting more once you break through… whether you know it or not you have just become a role model for a number of people around you and maybe people you do not know.
“I hope you choose to be a good role model, I know there are a lot of things pulling youths down, one of those things being drugs and substance abuse,” said Minister Coventry.
Chairperson of EmpowerBank, Mrs Rudo Kumirai said beneficiaries of loans issued by the bank had created a total of 3 400 new jobs.
She said their businesses contributed an estimated $111 million in monthly revenue to the national Gross Domestic Product, through their direct and indirect sales.
“Entrepreneurship takes guts and gore in order to succeed. With a failure rate of over 80 percent of all start-ups wworldwide the young people we celebrate today represent a small percentage of those who have managed to establish a successful enterprise,” said Mr Kumirai.
“The success we celebrate represents countless unseen hours of hard work, determination, and a will to succeed.
“All the young people today have fallen forward, having faced and overcome failure many times as of their journey.
“They are champions, economic heroes, who have the scars of war to show for it. And for that, today they deserve our utmost congratulations,” said Mrs Kumirai.
Mr Terrance Maphosa, a youth in the chicken-rearing business, explained the journey he traveled to the top, which was topsy-turvy.
He encouraged fellow youths in businesses to keep going even when the going gets tough to reach desired levels of success. – The Herald
