Zimpapers Logo

Nqobile Bhebhe, Senior Business Reporter

THE national trade development and promotion organisation, ZimTrade on Tuesday scooped the prestigious World Trade Promotion Organisation (WTPO) 2022 Award in  Ghana, a major endorsement in efforts to develop and facilitate  Zimbabwe’s exports.

The award was on the Eagles’ Nest Youth Export Incubation Programme under the Best Initiative for Inclusive and Sustainable Trade.

Other nominees who were competing for the same award were trade promotion bodies from Sri Lanka, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, and Zambia.

The awards ceremony was held yesterday in Ghana.

ZimTrade CEO, Mr Allan Majuru said the award is a recognition of the current programme implemented to strengthen export competitiveness and create market linkages for previously marginalised communities.

“This is an exciting award for us and goes a long way to demonstrate the hard work put by everyone at ZimTrade to ensure that we achieve our goals,” he said.

“In line with the aspirations of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, we have had to refocus our approach to ensure that we fully develop capacities for youth-led and women-led enterprises, given the big space they hold in our economy,”.

This is the second time ZimTrade was nominated for the WTPO award.

Last year, the trade body was nominated under the “Best use of a partnership” category, which recognised the successful use of integrated partnerships and networks to advance export development and impact.

The awards identify and recognise efforts by trade promotion organisations that have successfully contributed to strengthening the competitiveness of exporting enterprises or have made a significant and positive change towards reaching this objective.

Thirteen other trade promotion organizations from around the world which included Austria, Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia were up for nomination.

The nominees fell under three broad categories, which are Best Use of a Partnership; Best Use of Information Technology; and Best Initiative for Inclusive and Sustainable Trade.

The  Eagles’ Nest programme was launched in 2020 to inculcate an export culture among youth enterprises in the country and was premised on the understanding that meaningful trade and economic development require specific approaches to include marginalized groups, particularly young people.

Now in its second year, it bridges the knowledge gap by bringing together different stakeholders to support and nurture youth-led businesses across Zimbabwe into viable export-ready companies.

Other stakeholders who are part of the Eagle’s Nest Programme are local banks and financing institutions, who avail funding facilities tailored for youth-led SMEs.

Meanwhile, the trade promotion body is participating in an outward seller mission, which opens today in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The outward seller mission is designed to strengthen linkages between Zimbabwean exporters and buyers in the DRC.

It ends on Friday.

@nqobilebhebhe