TEVETA has launched guidelines for the establishment of Entrepreneurship Incubation Centres and Institutional Enterprises and Operationalisation to nurture business acumen in students and entrepreneurs.

Speaking during the launch, Minister of Technology and Science, represented by the Permanent Secretary Dr. Brilliant Habeenzu said the launch of the two guidelines was a transformative initiative that would shape the future of entrepreneurship training and enterprise development in Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) Institutions. Dr. Habeenzu said the guidelines for the establishment entrepreneurship incubation centres in TEVET were a comprehensive approach to supporting growth oriented and visionary youth and women.

He said the guidelines would also shape the way entrepreneurship was being taught and improve entrepreneurial thinking among students in TEVET.  “The guidelines will also provide entrepreneurs with the necessary resources, mentorship, and infrastructure to help them take their ideas from concept to reality. the process of developing an idea to a product or prototypes will require the support of key stakeholders that are part of the entrepreneurship ecosystems in Zambia and beyond. Therefore, the incubation centres will be sanctuaries of innovation and collaboration where new ideas can thrive and be improved upon to ensure small, medium and micro enterprises create more jobs and wealth,” he added. 

Dr. Habeenzu added that the guidelines for TEVET institutions were key to wealth creation. "We should see to it that these initiatives make TEVET institutions entrepreneurship hubs to support growth oriented and nurturing young minds into creators of more jobs and wealth. These clear guidelines remove barriers in creating successful graduate entrepreneurs."

He said entrepreneurship should not be taught theoretically anymore but should be practical through these Entrepreneurship Incubation Centres. These guidelines we are launching today are critical enablers to harness talent and develop viable enterprises. We should not sit on jobs." Dr. Habeenzu commended the GiZ for financing the development, publishing and launching the guidelines. “This is critical in actualising national development plans and sectoral priorities.  I urge cooperating to help TEVET institutions establish incubation centres to transform TEVET"

And the TEVETA Board Chairperson, Ngoza Chibekunda Nkwabilo said without relevant skills, there would be no wealth creation hence the transformative step to develop the guidelines was vital enabler in the entrepreneurship development ecosystem. Mrs. Nkwabilo said students would have access to seasoned mentors in business through these incubation centres to increase entrepreneurship uptake by the young people and SMEs who are the main job and wealth creators.

She said the guidelines were vital enablers in student mentorship, enterprise development and operationalisation for self-reliance and enterprise sustainability through practical spaces such as incubation centres. "Our mandate as the board is to ensure i) TEVET relevance, ii) value addition to raw materials, iii) continued quality improvement of TEVET, iv) digital fitness of TEVET graduates and v) Research and Development to find solutions to societal challenges.”

Meanwhile, TEVETA Director General, Cleophas Takaiza said the guidelines would result into the establishment of spaces for mentorship, generating ideas and business nurturing for enterprise sustainability. He said training institutions would also tap into the pool of business experts in the incubation spaces to become entrepreneurial and run institutional enterprises effectively.

“The guidelines will provide SMEs and students opportunities to innovate and nurture business ideas for job and wealth creation. We need such spaces for building business networks to meet national development aspirations espoused in the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP), sectoral priorities and Vision 2030. Creating a nexus between training and practical enterprise management will build a crop of young people who can apply themselves in job creation and empowering other youths with opportunities to take internships/apprenticeships."

And the GiZ THRIVE Project Manager Anna Kristina Kanathigoda said moving from theoretical to the real world of work changes how jobs and wealth creation were done hence the importance of the guidelines in bringing a competency-based approach in training entrepreneurship. Ms. Kanathigoda said as TEVET in Zambia transformed into Competency Based Education and Training (CBET), it requires the private sector support to absorb young people"

"Where the private sector cannot absorb all TEVET students under CBET, TEVET institutions should create enterprises that provide opportunities for students to practice what is happening in the industry. TEVET requires systems for practical competencies that nurture creativity. The guidelines call for collaborative efforts to actualise envisaged benefits from having such initiatives. We can all do our part to transform the Zambian workforce through TEVET."

She said where the private sector cannot absorb all TEVET students under CBET, TEVET institutions should create enterprises that provided opportunities to gain practical competencies and insight on what was happening in the industry. “TEVET requires systems for practical competencies that nurture creativity"