HARARE- A Zimbabwean youth entrepreneurs’ hub, the Young Africa Network, has embarked on a campaign to lobby for increased engagement and collaboration between youths in Zimbabwe and their Rwandan counterparts. The network says their campaign aims at giving an impetus to the current efforts by the governments of Zimbabwe and Rwanda to enhance and strengthen bilateral trade. The Young Africa Network comprises young Zimbabweans who are involved in various sectors of Zimbabwe’s economy. “As young Africans, we need to start aligning ourselves with the frameworks being developed by our leaders in an effort to increase intra-Africa trade through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, COMESA and bilateral relationships as the one shared with Rwanda,” said Tafadzwa Chiweza, Founder of the network. “As such it is imperative that we begin to foster long term relationships with our counterparts in Rwanda to fully take advantage of the gains of such policy infrastructure put in place” Chiweza said Rwanda is Africa’s upcoming economic hub with a strong agricultural sector and developing technological space. He said ease of doing business has been highlighted as one of the main contributors to the boom in economic activity in Rwanda with company registration taking as little as 24 hours. “Opportunities exist in developing value additive products and services to complement the unique endowments of both countries including while visas for Zimbabweans to Rwanda are not required,” he said. The Young Africa Network currently provides networking opportunities to link leaders through workshops, events and digital platforms facilitating forums for cross pollination of ideas and generation of new markets. “We are an open organization that is focused on working together with all interested stakeholders in Zimbabwe and Rwanda to achieve the mutual goals of both nations to create an economic environment conducive to the attainment of our long term national objectives through collaboration,” said Chiweza. The Young Africa Network will bring a delegation of young Zimbabwean entrepreneurs to Rwanda in early 2023 to explore possible opportunities in Rwanda’s fast growing economy including partnerships. Last month, Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Fredrick Shava, bemoaned the current low levels of trade and economic cooperation with Rwanda saying this does not match the levels of friendship the two countries enjoy. Shava said there is an urgent need to enhance trade and economic cooperation between Rwanda and Zimbabwe in line with the cordial relations the two countries enjoy. Both countries have held reciprocal trade and investment conferences aimed at identifying and exploiting opportunities presented by each of the two countries.
