THE Catholic University in Zimbabwe has won the Students in Free Enterprise Zimbabwe National Competition 2012 and will represent the country at the SIFE World Cup in the United States later this year.

The SIFE national champions will travel to Washington, DC, to attend the World Cup from September 29 to October 2.

The team said it has already begun making arrangements for the trip in the hope of clinching the 2012 SIFE World Cup Champions title.

SIFE is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing together the future leaders to create a better, more sustainable world through business development.

The first runner-up of this year's competition was Midlands State University, while Chinhoyi University of Technology was the second runner-up.

In fourth place was the University of Zimbabwe. The most improved team award went to Africa University.

Nine teams participated, namely Africa University, Bindura University of Science Education, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Catholic University in Zimbabwe, Midlands State University, National University of Science and Technology, Solusi University, University of Zimbabwe and Women's University in Africa.

The SIFE process provides teams with the opportunity to present their outreach projects to a panel of judges who assess and evaluate those projects and determine which teams has the most impact improving the quality of life and standard of living for members of their community. There were 59 judges from different sectors in attendance from both the two opening round leagues and the final round league as well as over 100 observers from different educational ministries and corporate organisations.

Last year Zimbabwe's representatives in the SIFE World Cup, Chinhoyi University, scooped the top award.

The SIFE World Cup provides a showcase of the impact that SIFE teams are achieving around the world and will bring together an international network of more than 1 500 student, academic, and business leaders from more than 39 countries.