THE Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has equipped 43 innovators with practical business skills to transform ideas into commercially viable enterprises that can support the country’s digital economy.
Policymakers globally regard innovation as essential for solving domestic challenges and building self-sufficient digital economies.
Potraz director Kenneth Dewera said at the close of the week-long Kadoma training that the programme had shifted participants beyond abstract thinking and into structured execution and financial discipline.
“When this programme was officially opened, we emphasized that innovation alone is not enough; innovation must be supported by sound business thinking, financial discipline and market awareness,” Dewera said.
Over seven days, the 43 participants were trained using the International Labour Organisation-developed Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) methodology, which focuses on market analysis, costing, compliance, financial planning and investment-ready pitching.
“You have learned that entrepreneurship is not guesswork. It is planning. It is accountability. It is execution,” Dewera told the innovators.
The training forms part of Potraz’s Innovation Drive and the National Innovation Acceleration Centre framework, which aim to build sustainable enterprises capable of creating jobs and deploying local technologies.
“We are building innovators who are capable of transforming ideas into sustainable enterprises that create jobs, deploy local technologies, and contribute meaningfully to Zimbabwe’s digital economy,” he said.
Dewera said the initiative was designed to ensure that innovation is commercially viable.
“Over the past week, many of you arrived with concepts. Today, you leave with clearer strategies, structured business plans, and a stronger appreciation that innovation must be commercially viable to survive,” he said.
He urged participants to focus on implementation beyond the training.
“This closing ceremony is not the end of your journey, it is a transition point. The responsibility now shifts to you to apply what you have learned. To refine your plans, test your markets, manage your finances responsibly, and execute with discipline,” he said.
Dewera said Potraz would continue to strengthen the Innovation Drive as a structured pathway to support innovators beyond training through ecosystem connections and growth platforms.