By Wallace Mawire
Zimbabwe is expected to host over a thousand delegates at the Africa Skills Week event to be held in Harare from the 12th to 16th of October, 2026, according to Dr Jenfan Muswere, Minister of Skills Audit and Development.
Muswere said this year the Government of Zimbabwe through cabinet approved their bid to host the Africa Skills Week.
Muswere said the country will be running the third session following the hosting of the other sessions in other African nations.
“And this third edition will run from the 12th to the 16th of October, 2026, at the Harare International Conference Center, under the theme, Schemes for Resilient and Competitive African Industries, from training to value creation.”
The Skills Audit and Development Minister said the sub-themes of the continental event include youth and industrialization, Artificial lntelligence and skills revolution, private sector and diaspora contribution to skills development, the green transition and from training to value creation.
“We’re expecting about 1,600 delegates who will be attending. And obviously this includes most of the ministers from various member states in terms of the African Union. We’re also expecting that a number of embassies representing their respective countries are also going to participate,” Dr Muswere said.
Muswere said that more than a thousand delegates have confirmed in terms of accreditation. According to him the accreditation process started on the 9th to the 11th of October 2026. Muswere said the country also went on to further to sign the host agreement between the African Union Commission and the government of Zimbabwe.
The President of Zimbabwe Dr Emmerson D. Mnangagwa is scheduled to officially open the African Continental event. Muswere added that they have invited all member states in the African Union and they expect to have full participation of all member states.
“That’s our expectation, because we are dealing with a continental strategy. And as you are aware, that our national philosophy, which we are also expanding in terms of scope and variety, is to ensure that we leave no one and no place behind. And the same applies,” he said.
He said as they work together with other member states, they want the best of every idea, the best of every practical solution to the development of the African continent. He added that they hppe to have robust debates and discussions at high level in order for them to be able to cultivate as much knowledge and data as possible for them to be able to implement a sustainable Africa skills strategy which is expected to support the industrialization agenda of Africa.
Muswere highlighted that there will be participation of institutions of Ireland, the Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Science and Technology (NUST), University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and other various institutions. Participation of primary industries, secondary education institutions and the learners in terms of various blueprints that they may develop is anticipated.
“I have had the joy to tour a number of projects that they have managed to be able to produce in institutions of higher learning and also primary and secondary education,” Muswere said.
Muswere also highlighted that Zimbabwe is on a growth trajectory in terms of the implementation of heritage based education, which mainly looks at the real life skills that are required where education and training meet industrialization needs.
He said the Ministry of Skills, Audit and Development is helping to producing and providing the important catalyst bridge in order for people to be able to be productive.
- “You know, as a continent with plus 60% of the population being young, there is no other major advantage that we have other than our human capital development in order for us to provide the requisite skills that are going to power the development of our continent and also move our continent from a third world continent to a first world continent. So many other institutions will contribute a lot to the development of Africa’s continental strategy, with emphasis on skills development,” Muswere said.