The country's Heritage Based Education 5.0 continues to score big in terms of aiding national development. Herald Reporter Wallace Ruzvidzo (WR) interviewed University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo (PPM) on Education 5.0.
Can you please give us an overview of the number plate manufacturing plant?
It was a call to innovate and support the industrialisation and modernisation thrust of Government in line with President Mnangagwa's vision. We got a challenge through our parent ministry; the idea to have import substitution on key products which we pay for through importation. One of those was the issue of number plates. We coordinated with our parent ministry, the championship of Minister Professor Amon Murwira, Permanent Secretary Fanuel Tagwira coordinated us, gave us that challenge. We established a team of eight institutions; Chinhoyi University of Technology, Harare Polytechnic, Mutare Poly, Midlands State University, Harare Institute of Technology and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) as the lead institution. My task was to assess capacity and put together a team.
What was next?
We then realised we could do it, so we imported the plant from Poland and then we struggled a little bit with the software, but our innovation hub produced the software that then linked the machinery to produce the third number plate to run the thing. And that was part of the innovation, our team at the University of Zimbabwe Innovation Hub did that. We have done other forms of innovations to do with transport that we exhibited at the ZITF and so on. So it is the spirit, that is what I'm saying, it's really a change, a change in thinking that I think is productive and fruitful.
How was the innovation funded?
We got funding for importation of the machinery from Government. Over US$1 million was invested to fund this whole process. To us, it is a huge investment by Government that pays off. I think much more was being paid to import number plates. His Excellency, the President, Chancellor of this university, officially commissioned this plant on December 2, 2022.
How did you feel when you realised you could produce number plates locally which were once imported from Germany?
Oh, it was an incredible feeling. I think it gave us that self -belief. But I think for some of us as the people who firmly believe in the philosophy as pronounced by His Excellency, we were never in doubt that we could do it. We have always said maybe if we are given the same level of support, our level of thinking is the same as what we get elsewhere. Yes, there's always a lot to learn from others because they are advanced more than us. But sometimes they are advanced in terms of their organisational capacity, sometimes they are advanced because of the kind of investment, sometimes they are advanced because of the trust bestowed upon them. And I think the game-changer that His Excellency put forward is asking us to do it. As academics, as thinkers, once we get that assurance, we can do a lot of things. And we can inspire the young ones that we superintend to do even bigger because nobody has a monopoly of innovation, a monopoly of thinking.
The young ones can do more than we can imagine. And there is also potential in us that can also surprise us even once the playground opens. So, we felt good. And one of the sources of the incredible feeling is the idea that we can actually come together to do it as institutions.
In the past, there was a little bit more of a silo mentality, more of 'I do, they don't do' and so on. I think this is one of the projects that shows we can put that away and just work together. I do not mind who contributes more or contributes less. I take it as a learning curve, some do not contribute but they will learn and that is okay. It is doable, let me join so I do not mind who joins it at what stage as long as the spirit is now there; that is the motivation and the inspiration that we got out of this. We feel that the nation should know that it can be done by ourselves. I acknowledge the support from our two ministries, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development, and then our parent Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development. In the same spirit that we are consistent with the Chancellor's vision, they have been supportive.
We are now stimulating our research and innovation processes more so that we can look at the area of raw materials. We want to produce our own raw materials over time, and that stimulates research within the institutions. We also have a lot to offer in terms of aiding Government to strengthen or advance the distribution system of number plates, because it is a software system that we have to use.
In terms of production capacity, how is the plant performing?
This is already at the commercial stage. We are able to do it for the region because we can produce about 30 plates per minute. And that will give us probably an order of 14 000 per day if we work with our hours. We can satisfy our local market well beyond our supply market if we were to produce like that. So I think we can respond to the region if that need arises.
Can you explain how Government gave confidence and even allowed you to make mistakes along the way as long as you get there?
I will speak to that as an experienced international scientist, myself, a researcher and as Vice Chancellor.
From my side as an international researcher, that is the break point. In the countries we call advanced, they motivate their people to focus on thinking; research that provides solutions. So that way, they are given that level of confidence, it is given in different ways; one, by way of a policy that says do, and by way of financial support, and by way of even moral support; without a feeling that if you make a mistake, you face this and so on. You know the kind of environment that frightens. People are not motivated if there is punishment even if money is invested.
Then as Vice Chancellor, my role is to mentor and lead, as a lead academic, to help others think. I have the consciousness that there are men who think even better than me; they may be out there but motivating them, inspiring them, stimulating them and leading them to do that is a space that I should occupy. Once I am able to do that it opens a lot of opportunities for solutions that we need as a nation. Government is now about transformation, research and innovation, and the pragmatism that His Excellency brings of wanting to see more action, to see people doing, I think it has changed the way our people are thinking.
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I am happy that students are even further. Our students now are demonstrating that they caught the wave. And that is what we expect. We expect them to be ahead of us. But for good cause, I think that is what we are trying to nurture. For us as leaders, we accommodate everybody. We show them that things can happen.
Lastly, who was behind the coming together of institutions, it was not something that used to happen a lot?
His Excellency, President Mnangagwa. We have a good champion, who is our Minister Murwira. He works tirelessly around these issues. He motivates in different ways. If you follow His Excellency's speeches, they are very consistent and when we follow our minister speaking, he is consistent with what the President is saying. So, I would say the Government has inspired us a lot. This would not have come if we did not have this new transformative thinking by His Excellency.
I remember that when we opened, we commissioned the University of Zimbabwe Innovation Hub, I think it was the first to be commissioned on August 5, 2019. He (President Mnangagwa) asked the minister "So where are you going to put these young people that have just graduated?" For a moment, when you are talking to such an authority you want to shape your words and before we could even just respond, he said "so you two professors don't know where to put these people" so we all laughed but he had already made his point that these innovation hubs should house these young men and women so that they begin to dream. So if you ask about the brainchild, yes, the President is the brainchild.
