Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda has challenged Zimbabwe’s young people to stop watching the technological revolution from the sidelines and demand a role in designing the artificial intelligence-driven economy, but his warning exposes a much bigger problem: millions of young Zimbabweans are entering a labour market that is already failing to provide enough jobs before AI begins reshaping it.

“The rapid advance of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the nature of work, learning and civic participation,” Mudenda said at the opening of the 2026 Youth Model Parliament in Harare.

“This technological revolution will define your generation’s economic landscape. You cannot afford to remain observers while its architecture is designed.”

The urgency of his message is underscored by Zimbabwe’s labour statistics. ZimStat’s 2025 second-quarter Labour Force Survey found that unemployment among young people aged 15 to 24 stood at 39.3%, compared with the national rate of 20.7%. Using the broader 15–35 definition, youth unemployment was 28.9%.

More revealing is the number of young people outside work, education and training. ZimStat estimated that 1.27 million people aged 15–24 were NEET, representing 47.6% of that age group. Among those aged 15–35, the number rose to 2.24 million, or 49.25%.

That means the AI debate cannot simply be about teaching young people how to use new technology. The more fundamental question is whether Zimbabwe is creating an economy capable of absorbing a generation that is already struggling to find productive work.

Mudenda himself pointed to this tension, urging young people to scrutinise the Government’s response to technological change.

“Instead, interrogate what measures the Government is taking to equip you with the digital skills this era demands,” he said. “Examine what safeguards are in place to ensure that automation does not displace youth livelihoods without offering new pathways to opportunity.”

That is perhaps the most consequential part of his intervention. Digital skills training on its own cannot solve a jobs crisis if the economy does not generate businesses, industries and occupations in which those skills can be deployed.

The structure of Zimbabwe’s existing labour market illustrates the problem. Of the 3.19 million people employed in the second quarter of 2025, only 1.14 million, or 35.8%, were in formal employment, while 1.86 million, or 58.5%, were employed informally.

For young people, therefore, the promise of an AI economy is being made against a backdrop in which almost half of those aged 15–35 are already outside employment, education or training.

The danger is that technology could deepen this divide if access to devices, connectivity, advanced digital skills and capital remains concentrated among a relatively small section of society. But the opportunity is equally significant: digital platforms can allow skilled Zimbabweans to access international markets, remote work and technology-based entrepreneurship without requiring the domestic economy to create every job locally.

This is why Mudenda’s call for young people to become participants rather than spectators matters.

“Above all, insist on inclusion not merely as beneficiaries of technology, but as co-designers of Zimbabwe’s digital future,” he said.

The challenge extends beyond employment. The Youth Model Parliament is taking place under the theme “One Voice, One Future: Youth Participation for Inclusive Governance”, bringing young people into Parliament for training in Standing Orders, parliamentary procedure and policy debate.

That civic dimension is important because AI is increasingly affecting not only how people work but also how information is produced, consumed and used in public decision-making.

A generation excluded from economic opportunity and meaningful policymaking risks becoming doubly marginalised — first in the labour market and then in determining the rules governing the technology that will shape that market.

The International Labour Organization, in a recent assessment, estimates that 6.1% of jobs held by young people aged 15–29 are in occupations highly exposed to AI-related changes, underlining that technological disruption is already becoming a labour-market issue rather than a distant possibility.

For Zimbabwe, however, the starting point is considerably more difficult. The country has to prepare young people for AI while simultaneously confronting unemployment, informality, skills mismatches and limited formal job creation.

UNFPA Zimbabwe brought that broader perspective into the Youth Model Parliament, arguing that youth empowerment cannot be reduced to political participation or technical skills.

“From sexual and reproductive health, mental well-being to economic opportunity, young people must be equipped with the knowledge, rights and resources to lead,” the agency said.

That framing is important because a digitally skilled young person without access to affordable connectivity, decent employment, finance, education or a supportive business environment remains excluded from the benefits of the digital economy.

The Youth Model Parliament consequently presents an opportunity to move the youth debate beyond speeches about Zimbabwe’s demographic dividend. Young people are being given a platform to debate national issues and develop resolutions for submission to actual Members of Parliament.

But the real test will be whether those ideas influence policy.

Mudenda’s warning that young Zimbabweans cannot afford to remain “observers” should therefore apply not only to the youth. It is also a challenge to Government and Parliament.

With 2.24 million young people aged 15–35 already outside employment, education or training, the country cannot afford a digital strategy that stops at workshops, devices and certificates.