It was a bad day at the office for three Malawian boxers as they lost miserably in international fights in Zambia.
Agnes Luwisi lost embarrassingly in a quickest fight of the night as she was knocked out just 43 seconds from the start by the Zambia opponent Violet Phiri.
In another fight Mussa Mkwanda was defeated by Mbachi Kaonga in the second round via Technical Knock- Out
As if that was not enough, Yusufu Ali lost on split decision in a fearlessly contested fight between the Malawian and Gracious Simwalizi from Zambia
A long term agreement could improve the standard of living for both Scotland and Malawi, the Scottish Parliament was told.
Professor Ian Gillespie, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee, said that the co-development of continual academic connections between the two nations could allow experts to address mutual challenges and further develop cultural ties.
Professor Gillespie – accompanied remotely by the vice-chancellors of all six public Malawian universities – was addressing members of Holyrood’s Cross-Party Group on Malawi, around the University’s Africa Initiative, in particular the Blantyre Declaration, which is a shared agreement to co-develop research and cultural links with Malawi.
He said: “Our commitment to sharing knowledge throughout the world at the heart of our recently launched Africa Initiative, a ten-year commitment that has already seen us establish new and exciting partnerships with six universities in Malawi.
Professor Ian Gillespie expects big things from the partnership (Image: Newsquest)
“The exchange of knowledge and the creation of exciting collaborations and opportunities through these relationships bring mutual benefits and are potentially transformative.
“We have just launched a new doctoral scheme, co-designed with partners to address shared priorities in areas of mutual strength and look forward to bringing more initiatives in the coming months.
“Our own University strategy reinforces our commitment to social purpose through learning and teaching, research, and engagement and enterprise. Nothing demonstrates our dedication to these aims more than our work with our partners in Malawi.
“Issues such as climate change and healthcare delivery know no borders and the Blantyre Declaration will be the cornerstone of an equitable partnership and agreement that demonstrates the shared commitment of all signatories to empower individuals both in Scotland and Malawi, to build a better future for us all.”
In a country where education and entrepreneurship opportunities are limited, Excellence Assured and Chiwosi Consultancy Firm respectively offers free computer, graphic design, and video production courses to young people across Malawi.
In a separate interview, Founder of Excellence Assured, Chipiliro Mizere stressed that they are driven by passion for empowering the youth of the nation with the knowledge and skills needed to start their computer-related businesses and excel in their professional lives.
Mizere underlined that to date, they have already trained hundreds of young people in Lilongwe and are now expanding their reach to other cities and rural areas.
“The objective is to train more young people across Malawi in the coming months, the courses will be available in Lilongwe urban and rural, Blantyre, Zomba, and Mzuzu, with plans to expand to other districts in the future,” He says.
Speaking after one of the trainings, founder of Chiwosi Consultancy Firm, Blessings Chiwosi said he believes that providing free ICT education to the Youths is not just helping the actualization of goal number 4 and 9 of UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, but that it will also open up new opportunities for the youth of Malawi as it will help actualize pillar number 2; industrialization, of Malawi Vision 2063.
“The initiative has already had a positive impact on the lives of those who have participated, with many going on to start successful businesses and others finding new professional opportunities and as the initiative continues to expand, it will be interesting to see the continued impact it has on the youth of Malawi,” Chiwosi indicated.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Felix Chimpeni said he is confident that the skills that he has gotten from these trainings has maximized his chances of getting employment as he has added value to his Curriculum Vitae.
“I have benefited by knowing how i can use the Microsoft packages, and other general computer skills on top of getting a certificate of training completion” Fetrainings.
Standard Bank Plc has donated funding worth K20 million to Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) towards its endowment fund which seeks to assist needy students and enhance resources mobilization at the institution.
Through the endowment fund, Standard Bank committed a four year sponsorship amounting to K80 million which is distributed in division of K20 million per year.
The Bank commenced its contribution from last year and has so far contributed K40 million towards the fund.
Speaking during the handover ceremony William Nuka, Head of Engineering and Chairperson of the Bank’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Committee said that the fund seeks to improve access to education for students and further improve service provision at the institution.
“Standard Bank believes that investment in education contributes positively to the overall growth of our nation. Therefore, the fund we are disbursing today will help students to acquire the desired education at the same time improving education standards at MUST,” said Nuka.
Nuka said that the funding resonates with the bank’s core purpose which seeks to see the growth of Malawi in all sectors.
Nuka further added that through the funding Standard Bank is enhancing equity in the education sector.
Vice Chancellor of MUST, Professor Address Malata commended the partnership that exists between the school and the bank saying it will contribute to positive growth of the institution.
“Since we started our operations in 2014, Standard Bank has been a partner for growth helping MUST to be financially sustainable. The contribution will help to enhance delivery of education at the institution and assist needy students.
As an education institution we hope to see the growth of the endowment fund’s revenue to K30 billion. As a result the institution will be contributing 40 percent to our budget in the process helping the government to achieve the MW2063 vision,” Malata said.
MUST Endowment Fund was established in 2021 to provide a more sustainable mechanism of resource mobilization to support needy students and also foster the university’s developments.
Within two years of establishment, the Fund is close to K2 billion which will be used for tuition fees and other infrastructure development after a tenure of three years.
