Zimbabwe has launched a new Artificial Intelligence, Digital and Innovation Hub in Gokwe North, expanding access to technology, coding and digital skills for young people outside the country’s major urban centres.
The facility, established at Nyamuroro Vocational Training Centre, is a partnership between the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Uncommon.org. It provides computers, digital-skills training, AI and coding programmes, and opportunities for young people to develop technology-based solutions.
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The Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services has supplied 20 laptops to support the hub. At the launch, Minister Tatenda Mavetera, represented by Director in the Minister’s Office Kudakwashe Muzenda, emphasised that expanding connectivity must go hand in hand with practical skills.
“Connectivity opens the door. Skills enable people to walk through it,” Mavetera said, calling for the hub to develop solutions addressing community needs, including agriculture, small businesses and education.
The initiative builds on Zimbabwe’s Presidential Internet Scheme, which was introduced at Nyamuroro High School in April 2025 as part of efforts to extend broadband connectivity across the country’s 2,400 administrative wards and improve access to digital services in underserved areas.
Mavetera also encouraged the hub to connect rural learners with national digital-skills initiatives, including the 1.5 Million Coders Programme and the CYBERUS cybersecurity programme.
Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Tinoda Machakaire, represented by Deputy Minister Kudakwashe Mupanhanga, said the facility represents his ministry’s first AI Digital Innovation Hub established in a rural community.
The location in Gokwe North reflects efforts to extend Zimbabwe’s digital transformation beyond urban centres and give rural young people opportunities to participate in the emerging digital economy.
Already, 52 young people from Gokwe North have enrolled at the hub and begun digital-skills training. The initiative is expected to help narrow the rural-urban digital divide by combining internet connectivity with practical technology skills, AI education and opportunities for local innovation.