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Mthabisi Tshuma, Chronicle Writer

ZIMBABWE has embraced the Norrsken Foundation initiative, which will see the country setting up technology space facilities to unlock youth innovation opportunities as part of efforts to grow the country’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

A Norrsken initiative is basically an innovation hub for the technology space where young people can access office space, meeting rooms, and conference facilities. The setup also creates access to investors for the projects done by young people.

The initiative, if implemented in the country, could help young people develop higher economic potential and make them contribute to achieving the Government’s upper-middle-income economy vision by 2030.

The proposal follows the attendance by ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister, Dr Tatenda Mavetera, of the Norrsken Africa Week 2023 held in Kigali, Rwanda last week. The minister attended the event on behalf of President Mnangagwa.

The event marked the official launch of East Africa’s largest hub for entrepreneurs where Rwanda President Paul Kagame officiated and encouraged Africans to work together, lead in ICT innovation and entrepreneurship and contribute towards Africa’s digital economy.

The Norrsken Africa Week 2023 was held at Norrsken Kigali House, which is Africa’s biggest innovation hub for entrepreneurship in ICT. It is built on the former historic Ecole Belge in downtown Kigali and consists of repurposed classrooms and a main building, which together form the largest hub for ICT entrepreneurship on the continent.

The event brought together prominent technopreneurs, investors, high-net-worth individuals, development finance institutions, and policymakers to explore the vibrant African tech landscape.

Dr Mavetera had a closed-door meeting with the founder of Norrsken Foundation Niklas Adalbert where they discussed establishing a similar initiative in Zimbabwe.

Norrsken Foundation is a non-profit, non-religious, and non-partisan foundation dedicated to helping entrepreneurs solve the world’s greatest challenges, such as poverty, famine, mental health, pollution, and climate change.

In an interview, Minister Mavetera said the foundation was happy with the idea.

“Norrsken Foundation was interested in the invitation and highlighted the need for funding and proper siting of the Norrsken House if the programme is to be a success in Zimbabwe,” she said.

“It was highlighted that such an investment requires around US$20 million and Norrsken was willing to invest around US$ 5 million. Niklas Adalbert showed interest in investing in the same project in Zimbabwe.”

Minister Mavetera said the meeting was fruitful and is aligned with some of the projects the ministry seeks to undertake to achieve an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

“In the meeting, we agreed to continue to engage on the subject of the development of the Norrsken Programme in Zimbabwe. The Norrsken programme dovetails well with the ministry’s vision to establish a technological Park,” said Dr Mavetera.

 -@mthabisi_mthire