
Dzombe, founder of magnificent Kalipano Hotel by Sunbird in Dowa
* Days are changing so we also need to change the way of thinking as well as the way we do our businesses
* Technology is coming in with a lot of ways of doing things as such there was need to move with the changing world in order to match with modern standards
By Yamikani Yapuwa, MANA
Renowned businessman and philanthropist, Napoleon Dzombe appealed to business people to embrace new ways of doing business and align with new technologies in order to stay in business.

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Speaking on Thursday in Blantyre at the Wealth Creation Conference, Dzombe said: “Days are changing so we also need to change the way of thinking as well as the way we do our businesses. There is no way we can maintain old ways of doing business.”
Dzombe who was guest speaker said technology is coming in with a lot of ways of doing things as such there was need to move with the changing world in order to match with modern standards.
“In our old days, most of us were good farmers but because we maintained things we were doing in those old days, this is why we are out of business but those that managed to come up with new technologies are still standing in their businesses,” he said.
Dzombe appealed to the younger generation to embrace a hardworking spirit instead of waiting for support from development partners, saying: “Dr. Kamuzu Banda told us that he did not bring money from where he was. He told Malawians work hard in order to generate income as such people listened and worked hard.

Dr. Kamuzu Banda
“After a while, we were taught that we have to write proposals and other things asking for support in order to generate income and this has compelled people to leave the hard work spirit ending up in crashing the economy,” he said.
He appealed to the nation to instill hard work spirit in young people to make them ambitious and successful business people.
“We need to ask our boys to work hard as there’s nothing for nothing. There is no way we can be successful if we do not work hard. Even God told Adam that he will eat from his labour. So we have to work in order to earn a living,” he said.
Dzombe came to more prominence recently for constructing the magnificent Kalipano Hotel by Sunbird — a country resort in Dowa District, and at the opening, President Lazarus Chakwera lavished praise on Napoleon Dzombe, saying “the feat he has accomplished as a developer in the tourism sector deserves special attention as the crown jewel of his illustrious career as an investor”.
He added: “We gather here to celebrate the development of Malawi by a distinguished Malawian. This majestic hotel is not a franchise imported from abroad — it is the actualization of a colourful dream by one of our own, and it is such an honour to be here to witness it.
The country resort will be managed by Sunbird Tourism Plc, Malawi’s leading hospitality service provider in management agreement between Mtalimanja Holdings, whose founder and chairperson is Napoleon Dzombe.
It is the 10th property under the Sunbird Portfolio and Kalipano’s facilities composition includes: a 54 roomed resort, with three meeting rooms, bar, indoor restaurant and offers a wide range of leisure facilities and activities — that include the magnificent Kalipano lake for experiential fishing; agri-excursions; outdoor swimming pool; water sports; two event gardens and a planned floating restaurant.
Meanwhile, founder of Sycamore Consult, Audrey Mwala — co-organiser of the Wealth Creation conference, also urged people to work hard whenever they invest in businesses, saying: “Most of the people do not have endurance and the delayed gratification which comes from long term thinking.
“The reality about investing and growing is that you do not see the fruits today but you need to think about it in the long term to start enjoying your journey and keep progressing,” she said.
One of the participants at the conference, Stanley Felix Kulapani, from Malawi School of Government described the conference as fruitful and inspiring, saying it was worthy attending as he was inspired on how to create wealth.
“Malawi’s education curriculum from primary to university has less on entrepreneurship but this is giving us practical pragmatic steps that one needs to take to move from abject poverty into economic and financial self-reliance,” said adding that key lessons leant from the conference include; the need to stop relying on employment and taking risks and get into entrepreneurship.
“This is a very key take home message am getting from here. Take risks and invest,” he said, adding that it is a common practice that people retire from employment with no steady income because of relying heavily on a job.
Kulapani therefore appealed to fellow Malawians to change the “job mindset,” to push Malawi forward.

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This is also what President Chakwera alluded to on Thursday when presided over the launch of the private sector mega farms at Mega Farm Support Unit Centre at Kanengo in Lilongwe when he urged farmers in the country to embrace commercial farming by mechanising and modernising their farming methods to reap maximum farming benefits.
He described the development of mega farms in the country as a game changer to the farmers,” saying: “Our farmers have deep and rich knowledge about farming but many of them do not get as much out of their farms as they can because the focus is on subsistence farming that uses tools from a bygone era.”
Minister of Trade Simplex Chithyola Banda concurred with Chakwera, saying agriculture remains the country’s economy backbone and has potential to contribute over 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He, however, cited low mechanisation, poor access to finance, and limited irrigation as some of the factors that have contributed to the failure of agriculture in the country to realise its potential.
“Today, the Ministry has mobilised more than 800 private sector medium and large-scale farmers, most of whom are potential mega farmers, to go into commercial farming in the forthcoming 2023/2024 agricultural farming season,” Chithyola Banda said
Chakwera is expected to launch another mega farm in Nkhata Bay before setting another in Chikwawa to have the mega farms spread across all the regions in the country.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express & Robert Katuli, MANA

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