Established in 2009, Project Management Zimbabwe (PMZ) is Zimbabwe’ largest Association of Project Managers and Project Management practitioners. PMZ is a membership based organisation operating as a non-profit adult vocational education and training Trust. There are over 2500 members to date on the PMZ database.

Besides providing various project management mentorship programmes for its members, PMZ is also licenced locally by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology to train and examine the Certificate and Diploma courses in Project Management (CPM/DPM) including the Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management (PGDPM). PMZ is also able to mentor its members in the world’s top 2 project management certification programmes, i.e. the PRINCE2 and the PMP credentials.

Through their Harare based National Secretariat Office and the Bulawayo Regional office, PMZ has a mandate of registering membership, setting up, monitoring and evaluation of standards in project management training and certification nationally. From 2009 up to 2013 PMZ was known as Project Management Institute of Zimbabwe before rebranding to PMZ in line with identities of similar institutions world-wide and the recommendations of the parent Project Management Institute based in USA.

Considered to be best practice organisation in project management standards, the Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world’s largest Association of Project Managers. In Zimbabwe and, as in most Sub-Saharan African countries the level of project management training and certification is nascent, albeit ominously low, given that these countries undertake massive infrastructural development projects.

Hence projects fail due to incompetency in project management and the lack of appropriate project governance thereof, giving rise to opportunistic corruption. Key Strategic Objectives of PMZ

> To provide a forum for the free exchange of project management information, challenges, proffering of solutions and their plausible applications

> To coordinate industrial and academic research effort in the field of project management

> To develop acceptable standard terminology, tools and techniques to improve project management communication and systems

> To provide interface between users and suppliers of hardware and software computer systems

> To provide guidelines for instruction and career development in the field of project management

> To train and certify potential and existing project management practitioners in conjunction with local and international educational authorities and centres.

> To process the registration and accreditation of project management professionals, consultants and project oriented companies. Contribute to and inculcate appropriate project management standards and national qualifications.

> To contribute to development of curriculum for Higher and University Education.

> To offer full consultancy services in Government and NGO Projects

> To facilitate project management job placement services, with a view to advance quality and range of project management occupations

> To promote and develop project management interdisciplinary skills and resources

For more information about Project Management Zimbabwe (PMZ) please email to: info@pmiz.org.zw. Submitted by Peter Banda CEO at Project Management Zimbabwe