With formal employment opportunities continuing to shrink, ‘many’ young people in Bulawayo are turning to entrepreneurship as a way to survive.
This comes after years of company closures and a lack of new industries, which have left graduates from local universities and colleges struggling to find jobs.
Across the city, it is now common to see young people selling clothes, food and second-hand phones in the streets.
Others have turned to online platforms, using social media to market products or buying and reselling goods through e-commerce sites such as Shein.
Twenty-four-year-old Sibongile Ncube, a National University of Science and Technology (NUST) graduate, said she has been job-hunting for two years without success.
“I finished my degree in marketing, but I have never been called for a single interview. At first, it was painful, but I decided to start selling women’s clothes online. I now earn something small every month. We cannot just sit and wait for jobs that are not there. So I started using Shein, where I buy clothes online and resell them,” said Ncube.
Shein is a global online store that sells clothing, accessories, home items, and beauty products. It became popular for its affordable prices, fast fashion trends, and heavy use of social media influencers to market its products.
Another youth, Thabani Dube from Bulawayo Polytechnic, said many of his classmates have also struggled to find placement during their industrial attachment.
“It’s very hard to find companies that take students for attachment. Most places say they don’t have space or cannot afford to pay allowances. Some of my friends ended up working without pay just to complete their courses,” said Dube.
Unable to find formal employment, Dube now runs a small phone-repair business in Bulawayo’s city centre.
“It’s not easy, but at least I’m using my skills to earn an income. I even train others now so that they can start their own small businesses,” he added.
For many young people, entrepreneurship has become a necessity rather than a choice.
Nkosilathi Ndlovu from Magwegwe said unemployment has forced the youth to be creative and resourceful.
“We cannot depend on the government forever. I buy and sell second-hand clothes, and sometimes I go to South Africa to restock. It’s hard work, but at least I can feed my family. I move around different suburbs like Cowdray Park and Pumula selling my clothes. Sometimes I even deliver to customers’ houses,” he said.
“It’s not easy, but it’s better than sitting at home doing nothing. We have to use our hands and think smart to survive.”
While many are managing to make ends meet, young entrepreneurs say they need more support from both government and the private sector.
Nomvula Dlamini, who sells mobile phones in the city centre, said youth-led enterprises are often stifled by high operating costs and lack of capital.
“Many of us want to grow our businesses, but we don’t have enough money for rent or stock. If the government can give small loans or business training, we can employ more people instead of waiting for jobs that don’t exist,” she said.
“Sometimes we share tables or small spaces just to save on rent. It’s difficult when rent is high and business is slow. We try to advertise on social media, but without enough capital, we can’t buy the latest phones or accessories that customers want.”
Although the job market remains tight, young people in Bulawayo are showing determination and creativity, with them accepting that entrepreneurship is the new path to survival.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Zimbabwe’s official unemployment rate stood at 20.7 percent in the second quarter of 2025.
Trading Economics projects this rate could fall to 8.7 percent by the end of the year, based on macroeconomic models and analysts’ expectations.
However, many economists argue that these figures understate the true situation, as most Zimbabweans rely on informal trading and small-scale entrepreneurship that are not captured in official statistics.
In comparison, South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 33.2 percent in the second quarter of 2025, with 8.4 million people jobless, according to SABC News and Xinhua.
Zambia, meanwhile, saw a modest improvement, with unemployment falling from 12.6 percent to 12 percent and youth unemployment dropping from 27.6 percent to 26.4 percent, according to Africa24 TV and the Zambia Statistics Agency (Zamstats).
By contrast, Botswana continues to face high joblessness, with the World Bank’s April 2025 report estimating unemployment at 27.6 percent, among the highest in the region.