THE Namibian delegation of National Training Authority (NTA) that visited Zimbabwe’s only Diamond Training Centre in Mt Hampden on Tuesday on a fact-finding mission has hailed the training centre and is looking forward to forge an alliance with the institution to train their diamond cutting and polishing personnel in the country.
The delegation, led by Namibia Training Authority chief operations officer Epaphras Shilongo, is visiting Zimbabwe to learn from the country’s experience in developing skills for mineral beneficiation and industrial value-addition.
The group also toured Mutare Polytechnic College, Bulawayo Polytechnic and the Zimbabwe School of Mines, among other training institutions.
Speaking during the visit to the diamond training institute, an indigenous-owned centre based in Harare, Shilongo said Namibia wanted to draw lessons from Zimbabwe’s model of transforming natural resource wealth into employment through practical skills development.
“We are here from Namibia on a benchmarking and collaboration visit to Zimbabwe and we have been hosted today by the Diamond Training College,” Shilongo said.
“What we take home is that we need to start with mineral beneficiation in our country.
“At the moment, we do not have a training facility that offers these types of skills.
“We see this as an opportunity to collaborate and leverage the expertise of our sister country so that we can also add value to our mineral resources in Namibia.”
Shilongo added that Namibia was eager to strengthen bilateral co-operation with Zimbabwe, particularly in upskilling trainers and aligning Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) standards across the Sadc region.
“We invite our Zimbabwean counterparts to visit Namibia to identify areas where we can also assist each other. There is a lot to learn from one another,” Shilongo added.
The NTA which regulates the country’s TVET system, is implementing reforms to bridge gaps in technical training and align courses with emerging industries such as green energy.
Acting general manager for TVET and VTC development support, Richard Kambinda, said Zimbabwe’s capacity in vocational training was impressive and that the visit would help Namibia build stronger foundations for technical education.
“We came to Zimbabwe on a study tour to see what programmes can help us bridge the gaps we have in Namibia,” Kambinda said.
“We don’t have a diamond-cutting college back home, so it’s important to learn from our brothers and sisters here.
“We’ve seen that Zimbabwe has the capacity and we believe Zimbabwe can help us.”
The visit is part of a broader agenda to finalise a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, focusing on dual certification, curriculum development, trainers’ capacity building, quality assurance, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) integration, and Sadc TVET harmonisation.
Founder and Diamond Training Institute director Lovemore Kurotwi said the visit was a significant recognition of Zimbabwe’s growing influence in technical skills transfer and beneficiation training.
“We are a private, indigenous-owned institution, and I am grateful to our government and the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education for licensing and recognising our pivotal role in this economy,” Kurotwi said.
“We are transferring vital skills to our young people, which is key to building an industrialised nation.”
He said the institution’s mission is to transform Zimbabwe from an exporter of raw minerals to a manufacturer of finished products.
“We complain about unemployment, yet we have all the resources. The missing link is skills. Without skills, there is no industry to talk about,” he said.
“That is why our thrust is on training and skills transfer. When another government comes to benchmark from us, it shows we are on the right path.”
The Diamond Training Institute plays a strategic role in Zimbabwe’s mineral beneficiation agenda by equipping students with expertise in diamond cutting, polishing, grading and valuation skills once exclusive to foreign operators.
Kurotwi said the Namibian delegation’s tour shows growing continental co-operation in vocational education, as African nations increasingly seek to localise value addition and empower their youth through hands-on technical skills.
His college is the country’s sole diamond processing training institution, which has produced quality students some of whom have been absorbed into the European and Asian diamond cutting firms.
Kurotwi said the college’s curriculum is a cut above the rest due to its extensive study on the mineral, adding that it will contribute immensely to the country’s value-addition in the diamond industry.
Zimbabwe’s diamond industry has the potential to transform the country’s economy if resources are channelled towards value-addition of the gemstones.
The college has challenged government to stop sending people to China to train in diamond cutting and polishing as that can be done locally.
