Zimbabwe Launches Global Skills Drive to Harness Expertise at Home and Abroad

In a significant stride toward modernizing Zimbabwe’s human capital management, the Minister of Skills Audit and Development, Professor Paul Mavima, has officially launched two pioneering digital platforms: the Retired Expert Skills Database and the Diaspora Skills Database. This initiative, unveiled on December 31, 2025, represents a strategic effort to bridge the nation’s skills gap by formalizing the contribution of experienced professionals and those living abroad to the national development agenda. For decades, Zimbabwe has faced challenges in tracking and effectively utilizing the immense talent produced by its education and professional systems.

Minister Mavima noted that while the nation has consistently trained high-level experts, their skills often remained “latent assets” due to the lack of a centralized mechanism for deployment. The Retired Expert Skills Database is specifically designed to preserve and transfer institutional memory. This ensures that the wisdom of veteran experts continues to serve the nation, strengthening service delivery and accelerating innovation across all levels of government and industry.Simultaneously, the Diaspora Skills Database acknowledges the global reach of the Zimbabwean workforce.

This platform enables skilled Zimbabweans working internationally to contribute to nation-building through remote collaboration, knowledge exchange, and targeted skills repatriation. This “virtual participation” model allows the diaspora to remain integrated into Zimbabwe’s growth trajectory, offering their global perspective and specialized technical skills to local projects without the immediate necessity of physical relocation. Minister Mavima concluded the launch with a call to action, urging all eligible professionals to register via the newly established Zimbabwe Skills Hub portal at zimskills.gov.zw. As the country moves toward its Vision 2030 goals, this deliberate and inclusive approach to skills management is expected to enhance national competitiveness and ensure that Zimbabwe’s development is driven by its most valuable asset—its people.