Young fisherman reels in K1 million prize to expand business

By Chisomo Phiri

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Triephornia Mpinganjira on Thursday unveiled a 25-year-old man, Francisco Mbotwa from Nkhatabay District as the second winner in her K18 million ‘Kuthandiza Omwe Alibe Kuthekera Kupita Patsogolo’ initiative.

Speaking when receiving a cheque of K1 million in Lilongwe, Mbotwa who is a fisherman, said, he intends to buy a canoe, employ three fishermen and according to his estimates, he envisages making K200 000 a week, K600 000 per month and K7.2 million annually.  

Mbotwa with Triphornia Mpinganjira

“By the end of this year, I will have purchased five canoes, five nets, two deep freezers and a fish-selling plant. This translates to having 17 people employed and two sales people,” he said. 

He said he plans to reinvest all his profits in the business so that in the next five years, he will be established as the main fish seller in the district with two four large shops, over 40 canoes and nets and employing over 100 people.

In her remarks, Mpinganjira said she is happy with the progress of the initiative and vowed to continue supporting it.

She has since disclosed that other partners are welcome to join the course whose main objective is to help young people with good business plans but have limited capital to achieve their dreams and create jobs for others.