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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE will later this month host the Unesco Engineering Week in Africa Week with a view to increasing the visibility of engineering as the continent strives to achieve Millennium Development Goals.

The week-long forum, which is in its second-year running, would be held in Victoria Falls from September 14 to 19.

It is hoped that during the Africa Engineering Week students in schools across the continent will participate in educational activities to get a clearer view on what engineering is.

The students will be introduced to interesting career paths in engineering and they will be involved in hands-on activities.

“The aim is to increase the visibility of engineering and its role in sustainable development, to encourage students to study engineering… and to encourage more African countries to participate ensuring the sustainability of these efforts.

“The activities during Africa Engineering Week will increase the visibility of engineering, which is particularly important in the continent where there is a great need for engineers to achieve the MDGs and the Sustainable Development Goals,” said the organisers of the event, Africa Exchange in a statement.

This year’s event will see the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers hosting the Africa Engineering Ceremony.

The event organisers added, “Addressing sustainable development within current climate change challenges will require innovative engineering and technology-based solutions. Engineering capacity and competence building activities are critical to ensure an adequate supply of engineers to work on these global challenges.

“Such activities are particularly important in Africa, where the per capita number of engineering professionals is lower than in other regions. Given this engineering deficit, activities that promote awareness of engineering as a career as well as show how youth studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics can become part of the solution have high priority.”

Africa Exchange said many countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and Ireland hold national engineering weeks, which have been successful in promoting awareness of engineering as a career among students as well as demonstrating the need for engineering to achieve sustainable development.