Target Groups

	ZIMBABWE OPPORTUNITIES
	INDUSTRIALISATION CENTRES
	*Creating Employment Opportunities*

Our Target Groups:

ZOIC seeks to serve the following segments within the informal sector:

	Urban and rural youths, particularly those graduating from various skills training institutions including technical and vocational colleges and retrenchees from both public and private sector with a desire for self-employment.
	Existing youth entrepreneurs and particularly businesswomen in the informal sector needing practical assistance to ensure access to credit and other financial services, growth and business survival.
	Existing and potential clients of microcredit institutions and microenterprise support organisations wishing to strengthen the business and credit management capacity of their clients.
	Men and women with disabilities desiring to enter into business or improve their existing businesses
	Selected personnel of microfinance institutions and microenterprise support organisations.

The Importance of Entrepreneurship Leadership Skills and Enterprise Training for the Youth:

At ZOIC, microenterprise and entrepreneurship leadership skills for the youth are a series of competency skills with strong links to the cultural heritage and based on adult learning principles and behavioural learning methodologies, which should form an intergral part of the microenterprise training for all youth and community based enterprise programmes. Why?

	Firstly, economic liberation in Africa requires enterprising individuals, youth and communities and a society that values and advocates for enterprise and wealth creation as a valuable career.
	Secondly, that entrepreneurship is not only about wealth creation and business, but it is a mind-set and involves creative thinking, risk taking and capitalising on advantages and opportunities. It induces economic literacy, a sense of self-esteem and independence.
	Lastly, prosperity as an entrepreneur demands a new leadership knowledge base on personal and individual positioning and career management.

Their Needs:

Informal sector operators have not been able to effectively participate in income generating activities as they continue to be encumbered by a number of constraints, the most notable and significant of which are: limited access to meaningful financial support, the non-existence of a regulatory framework to guide and protect them, lack of diversified training programmes to enhance their product and management skills, and lack of extension services in support of their business ventures (Siddiqui and Nuagura 1993). In a study executed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to determine the training needs of entrepreneurs in the informal sector in Zimbabwe, the following information was highlighted.

Business extension services needed by small-scale and self-employed entrepreneurs:

« Monitoring and counselling to improve business efficiency.

« Assistance in marketing goods and services.

« Assistance in securing sub-contracts.

« Assistance to upgrade business and technical skills.

« Assistance to secure credits and loans.

« Cost accounting and financial management.

« Cash control practices.

Training needs of small-scale and self-employed entrepreneurs:

« Upgrading of technical/production skills.

« Business management skills.

« Business organisation.

« Financial management skills.

« Project costing.

« Pricing of goods.

« Marketing skills.

« How to do sub-contracting.

« How to do financial accounting.

« How to improve the quality of products.

« How to improve the design of products.

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