By Christine Lethokuhle Mabhena

Upcoming innovators from the country’s top universities and tech companies pitched up their business ideas on the first day of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Innovators Forum that kicked off yesterday alongside the on-going trade showcase in Bulawayo.

The ZITF innovators forum is a platform for youths with business ideas to pitch them up in front of a panel of judges who then adjudicate the process to choose the best business idea for funding by the sponsors that include NetOne, Elevate Trust, TelOne and Lec Biotec, ZimHack, TechZim among other sponsors.

The theme for this year’s forum is ‘innovation: the engine to industrial and economic growth.’ The innovations were biased to manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

Some of the young minds that participated heaped praises on the organisers of the event saying the platform offers them the opportunity to grow their business proto types.

“This platform empowers us the youths, by offering investment of our business ideas to grow. You get your ideas to be known, that’s empowering the innovative minds,” said Gabriella, a student from the National University of Science and Technology majoring in Property and Real Estate Management.

Another student from Midlands State University, Abel Chigwata who showcased his Univa Store web application said the platform enabled them to realise their dreams.

“The innovators forum helps us as the youths to discover our talents. It also helps us to put into practice what we have learnt at school,” said Chigwata.   

A representative from the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) presented on how the young innovators can protect their innovations.

One of the organisers of the event, Elevate Trust Director and Lec Biotec founder Sicelo Dube urged the young innovators to follow their dreams and become successful entrepreneurs who can contribute to the industrialisation of the economy.