Half a Generation Waiting: Turning Zimbabwe's Youth Bulge into a Skills Dividend

The numbers behind the headlines

Zimbabwe's latest quarterly Labour Force Survey, published by ZIMSTAT in July 2025, paints a hard picture for young people. Among youth aged 15–24 in the labour force, the unemployment rate was 39.3%. Using the broader "expanded" measure — which includes people who want work but have given up looking — it rose to 58.2% (ZIMSTAT, 2025).

An even more telling figure is the NEET rate: young people not in employment, education or training. ZIMSTAT counted about 1.27 million 15–24-year-olds in this group, or 47.6% of the age group. For the wider youth band of 15–35, the NEET rate was 49.2% — about 2.2 million young people (ZIMSTAT, 2025).

For those who do find work, it is usually informal. ZIMSTAT found that 58.5% of employed people worked in the informal sector (ZIMSTAT, 2025). That means no contract, no pension and little protection when things go wrong.

Why young people struggle to find work

Skills that do not match the market. UNICEF Zimbabwe reports that youth unemployment is made worse by a mismatch between what schools and colleges teach and what employers need. Many vocational training centres lack the modern equipment needed for the digital economy (UNICEF Zimbabwe, n.d.).

Extra barriers for young women. UNICEF's 2023 youth report notes that girls are under-represented in science and technology subjects, and that child marriage and adolescent pregnancy can cut their education short. As a result, young women are more likely than young men to be NEET (UNICEF Zimbabwe, 2023).

Policy ambitions that do not reach the village. Zimbabwe has an impressive policy toolkit. A 2024 review by the Malabo Montpellier Panel lists the Revised National Youth Policy, a new Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Policy adopted in 2023, the EmpowerBank youth loan scheme and plans to open a vocational centre in each of the country's 64 districts. Yet the panel found that "most youth still operate in the informal sector and remain unemployed" (Malabo Montpellier Panel, 2024, p. 10).

Hustling while waiting

Research from African universities shows that young Zimbabweans are not passive. Inocent Moyo (2023), a geographer at the University of Zululand, describes how economic crisis pushed young people into urban informal trading as a survival strategy. Many also turned to politics, either hoping for change or seeking patronage. He names this experience "waithustlinghood" — waiting for a proper job while hustling to survive (Moyo, 2023).

This matters for development organisations. Young people already have energy, networks and entrepreneurial instinct. What they often lack is capital, recognised skills, market links and protection from political manipulation.

What is working

Youth in agrifood systems. About 37% of young Zimbabweans work in agriculture (Malabo Montpellier Panel, 2024). Youth-led firms show what is possible when agriculture is treated as a business. The panel profiles IFAam, which uses artificial intelligence and remote sensing for pest and weather alerts, and Mhuri Farming, which supported 162 young tobacco farmers with seedlings in the 2022/23 season (Malabo Montpellier Panel, 2024).

Learning-to-earning programmes. Through the Generation Unlimited partnership, UNICEF Zimbabwe reports reaching 15,248 adolescents and young people in 2024 with mentorship, digital skills or internships. A further 885 received entrepreneurship and financial literacy training (UNICEF Zimbabwe, n.d.). UNICEF also notes that coverage remains limited, especially in marginalised districts.

Accessible finance. EmpowerBank offers microloans of US$100–5,000 with low or no collateral. However, the panel reports monthly interest rates of 8.5–10%, which can be a heavy burden for a new business (Malabo Montpellier Panel, 2024).

What community organisations can do

National programmes struggle to reach rural youth in places like Tsholotsho, Matobo or Lupane. Community-based organisations can close the gap in four ways:

1. Link young people to what already exists. Many youth do not know about TVET centres, youth loans or government agricultural schemes. Information and help with applications cost little and open doors.
2. Teach skills the local market will pay for. Solar installation, livestock health, phone repair, food processing and digital marketing can be taught close to home, with practical assessment.
3. Back young women deliberately. Childcare during training, safe transport and female mentors can reduce the barriers UNICEF identifies.
4. Build savings before loans. Youth savings groups build discipline and track records before young people take on expensive credit.

Our commitment

Multi Sparks Action Trust's constitution commits us to ensuring community involvement in government and non-governmental development programmes and employment, to guarantee financial inclusion (objective 9.7). It also commits us to embracing technological innovation (9.5) and to helping communities explore their own potential free from regionalism and nepotism (9.6).

Zimbabwe's youth bulge can become a skills dividend. That will take patient, local work that connects young people to skills, markets and money — and treats them as partners, not beneficiaries.

Note on sources: UNICEF Zimbabwe's skills page reports 2024 results but carries no publication date, so it is cited as "n.d."