Darryl ( Youth Village Zimbabwe Editor) Interview

We had a chance to chat with Youth Village Zimbabwe’s Editor , Darryl Nyamutsamba about his role as the editor of Youth Village Zimbabwe and what he has in store for young people in Zimbabwe to help facilitate their development. Darryl also shares with us some of the challenges faced by Zimbabwean youth and possible solutions to those issues.

Who is Darryl Nyamutsamba?

Darryl is a young Zimbabwean, an artist, editor of Youth Village Zimbabwe with vested interested in facilitating development in the lives of Zimbabwe youth using new media and technology by leveraging off the growth of the internet and smartphone penetration in Zimbabwe

Tell us about your role as an editor on the Youth Village Zimbabwe platform?

My role involves creating content for the Zimbabwean youth and Zimbabwean thought leaders in a bid to inspire young and expose young Zimbabweans to local and global opportunities. The core of our content centers around education, employment, entrepreneurship, health and entertainment. I also coordinate and identify potential partnerships in Zimbabwe and seek ways to create platforms and encourage Zimbabwean youth to play a pro active role in addressing issues affecting them

Why youth?

Zimbabwe has a predominately youth population and whilst the focus in any case should be placed on empowering the youth because they are our future leaders, there is an urgency to capitalise on our demographic dividend which poses challenges if not invested in and as Youth Village we using access to developmental information as a measure to develop Zimbabwean youth.

What do you think are some of the challenges faced by Zimbabwean youth at the moment.

At the top of my head I would say , Unemployment, drug abuse, lack of exposure to developmental information particularly global and local opportunities.

What do you aim to achieve with the Youth Village Zimbabwe platform?

I aim to empower the youth by making useful information easily accessible to them and expose them to local and global opportunities in the comfort of their homes through technologies like mobile phones.

What are some of the day to day challenges you face as an editor on Youth Village Zimbabwe?

Internet and electricity is erratic in Zimbabwe and that creates productivity and consistency problems but we constantly devising measures to alleviate the constraints. As a young person it’s not always easy to be taken seriously by the authority generation so that is a barrier we slowing climbing over everyday. In addition as  a new platform  people are still a bit skeptical about collaborating or working with us and I think it only fair and we are constantly working on building our credibility as Zimbabwe’s Number 1 Youth Portal.

Who do you look up to for inspiration?

I look up to a couple of people actually, namely 2pac, Bruce Dube (Founder of the Youth Village platforms across the continent)  and Oliver Mtukudzi.

As someone who is passionate about business and also studied business management. What do you feel needs to be done or implemented in Zimbabwe to create a more enabling environment for entrepreneurs.

We need to make it easier for entrepreneurs to register and start business, we need to start rewarding innovative ideas and start supporting them and I think we also need to have a high level of corporate governance.

Last but least we need to curb corruption.

Where do you see Youth Village Zimbabwe in the next 5 years?

I see Youth Village Zimbabwe as being the most prominent and reliable  information provider for the youth who are trying to make a difference in our country

What do you do for fun?

I like to watch documentaries and engaging with people I admire . I also spend a lot of my time reading and doing research on global trends in new media and youth development .

Favourite place to hang out in Harare?

I enjoy hanging out at the Grange Inn guest house because I get to meet all types of people from all walks of life .

What music do you listen to?

I listen to a lot of Zimbabwean and South African Hip-Hop

What advice would you like to give to young people who would like to pursue entrepreneurship?

Being an entreprenuer involves a lot of learning. The learning is constant- from self development to business basics. Social media is something the entreprenuers from the 80’s had to learn about.

How can people reach you?

People can reach me on my Facebook: Darryl Nyamutsamba Twitter: Darryl Nyamz . For Youth Village Zimbabwe they can reach us on twitter @YouthVillageZW of email me on [email protected]