The popular entrepreneurship competition for upcoming business start-ups that are showcased on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Television (ZBC TV), Ndine Thaza Season 6 got off to a good start with sponsorship from Power Giants yesterday.
Announcing the sponsorship deal in Harare yesterday, Engineer Edzai Kachirekwa, the Power Giants Group Transmission Director for Southern Africa said his company decided to sponsor Ndine Thaza since the initiative is meant to uplift young entrepreneurs to run thriving businesses.
“Through the partnership with Ndine Thaza, we seek to support tech-entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe. A technically-gifted girl or boy child from Binga, for example, should be given the support to realise his or her dream of becoming a tech-entrepreneur. Power Giants Private Limited is also a school for electricians. To date, we have trained and nurtured more than 40 electricians who are doing well in this area. As a company, we know no boundaries and we have a huge footprint in regional electrical markets,” said Engineer Kachirekwa.
He said his vision is to see Zimbabwe becoming self-reliant in energy production with the sector being one of the biggest contributors to the growth domestic product (GDP of the country.
“The energy sector should create employment opportunities. With the vast minerals we have including coal and methane gas, Zimbabwe should be the energy hub of the SADC region. We want to make sure that Zimbabwe becomes one of the biggest producers of smart energy in the region, with a particular focus on solar,” Engineer Kachirekwa added.
Mr. Shaun Tichaona Chitsiga, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ndine Thaza said the initiative is meant to support young entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. He said Ndine Thaza Season 6 will feature 10 entrepreneurs in the tech business.
“The entrepreneurs should be able to explain their business concept in a way that can be easily understood by a layman. In that regard, there will be a panel of 4 judges who are celebrities (musicians and actors) who will each carry 250 points to be allocated to the entrepreneurs who will compete for 1 000 points in total. The show will start on 5 December and run through Christmas time,” Mr. Chitsiga said.
The show was endorsed by Charity Chanetsa, the Head of Production of ZBC who praised Bizani Media, the producers of Ndine Thaza for offering high-quality content for the viewers.
Evangelista Chekera was a contestant in Ndine Thaza Season 1. She said although she did not walk away with an accolade in the inaugural competition, the initiative empowered her to become a young entrepreneur whose chick brooding innovation has won her local and continental awards.