Wealth Magazine and MAIIC to host business Startup Masterclass

* It comes amidst a growing challenge in terms of employment opportunities in the country

* Especially among the demographic dividend — the youth

* An opportunity to create employment has always been readily available

* Through the ideas that many creative young people have

By Duncan Mlanjira

Wealth Magazine, Malawi’s quarterly local entrepreneurial and business magazine, has teamed up with Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation (MAIIC) to host an inaugural Startup Masterclass series to be held at the Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe on February 25.

Wealth Magazine’s managing executive, Harry Chima said in a statement that the Master Class comes amidst a growing challenge in terms of employment opportunities in the country especially among the demographic dividend — the youth.

“Whilst the challenge exists, an opportunity to create employment has always been readily available through the ideas that many creative young people have,” said the statement.

“The challenge among many others has been that many StartUp companies in Malawi do not start with the right mindset for business and therefore choke on the way and yet local examples  of successful firms that can be emulated are available.

“The Master Class will, therefore, seek to learn from young Malawian entrepreneurs who have set up successful sustainable business brands and therefore experienced and have also earned the right to share their expertise in as far as how to set up and nativagate ideas that have the potential to create employment in the country.”

This is exactly the same direction that FDH Bank has taken, called FDH Graduate Start Ups, which was launched last December through which new university graduates will be encouraged to conceptualize their ideas and engage with the financial institution for possible refinancing.

The programme started with graduates of Malawi University of Business & Applied Sciences (MUBAS), formerly the Polytechnic of Malawi, who were engaged to present their real-time business ideas and plans for possible injection of working capital.

The students — who formed nine real time companies — pitched their business ideas to a panel of 7 executive management of FDH Holdings, which identified 5 for further nurturing and assessment to qualify for refinancing.

This FDH initiative is first of its kind in the financial services industry as well as the corporate world that was born following a symposium MUBAS’ Faculty of Education and Media Studies had that impressed FDH Bank’s then acting MD George Chitera when he attended it as guest of honour.

Wealth Magazine’s Chima says the aim of their Startup Masterclass is to draw inspiration, expertise, exposure and experience from successful entrepreneurs on how they have been able to navigate through the bottlenecks associated with setting up an enterprise from ideation to practically growing it through the different stages.

“Besides the expertise, experience, inspiration and exposure, there will be a panel discussion on how government can accelerate the startup ecosystem through a national business growth scheme which has the potential to help businesses to grow and scale and also provides the much needed business diagnostics so as to help the businesses identify their shortfalls on their way to growth.

“Sometime back, we used to have a unit in the Ministry of Trade and Industry called Business Growth Scheme (BUGS) where all these aspects were happening albeit on a small urban scale.

“It would be a great initiative to see such services being offered countrywide by patriotic, professional and qualified Malawian entities to help those business find their feet and thereby grow to become contributors to the National Vision,” Chima said.

The target audience is 200 people or startup businesses and entrepreneurs whose desire is to see Malawi 2063 realized by starting with Malawi Implementation Plan 1 (MIP-1) which ends in 2030.

The theme is ‘Setting the Right Mindset in Business’, which key to attaining high impact and scalable businesses or enterprises.

The speakers include renowned local tech giant Maya Nkoloma — CEO of IMOSYS; Nthanda Manduwi from Ntha Foundation and Bien Corp Africa; Chisomo Munthali of the MIKO’S fame; Dr. Teddie Nakhumwa of AGCOM and MAIIC’s CEO Taz Chaponda among others.

In 2020, Wealth Magazine organised a first-ever women’s summit on wealth creation named Wealth Woman Summit — whose panelists were accomplished Malawian women professionals with a keynote speaker being Associate Law Professor, Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo.

Other panelists included Mdingase Tewete (founder and managing director of Kombeza Foods); Dr. Margaret Chaika (chief executive officer for Face Forward Group) and Patience Chatsika from Old Mutual Malawi.

The event, under the theme ‘Can You Have It All? – Business, Career, Wealth and Family’, brought together an array of women speakers from different industries that are accomplished in their efforts to support the evolution of the middle class in Malawi — which is a catalyst in the provision of an established consumer base that influences socio-economic growth with a focus on women

Last year, the Magazine honoured 8 females who are first achievers in their field that included Catherine Gotani Hara (first Speaker of Parliament); Dr. Joyce Banda (Malawi’s first female State President); Dr. Tamiwe Tomoka (first female pathologist); Prof. Address Malata (first Vice-Chancellor of prestigious Malawi University of Technology and Sciences (MUST).

Others were Dorothy Ngwira, (first female Chartered Public Accountant (CPA); Justice Anastazia Msosa (first woman High Court Judge as well as chairperson of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC); Mbumba Banda (first female to manage a major news print and media company, Nation Publications Limited) and Yolanda Kaunda — Malawi’s first female airline captain.

Wealth Magazine focuses on helping create a sustainable and conducive entrepreneurial-business ecosystem through practical and actionable information on entrepreneurship, investments, business, technology — which are catalysts for socio-economic transformation in Malawi.

Just last month, South Africa-based Khato Civils executive chairman, Simbi Phiri encouraged Malawian graduates to aim for entrepreneurship as opposed to focusing on being employed as is the case for most of all youths as they pursue their higher education.

In an interview on Cruise 5 — a one-on-one panel discussion programme on Zodiak Broadcasting Station — Simbi Phiri observed that the majority of Malawians get obsessed on securing employment upon their graduation instead of aiming for entrepreneurship.

He indicated that if deliberate steps are taken to strengthen and stimulate entrepreneurship can help create job opportunities.

Simbi hinted that entrepreneurship is what the financial authorities can consider supporting to encourage more highly educated experts to venture and grow their entrepreneur businesses so that can sustain on their own into bigger industries so that they keep the country’s economy stable.

Simbi believes that most Malawians have the wrong mentality and perception that entrepreneurship is an option for those who failed to attain higher education.

Yet they fail to see the bigger picture based on how and why Malawians of Asian origin do their businesses, which is mostly family controlled. The Indians’ businesses, Simbi said, are controlling the economy, which is second to the corporate world.

“Indians educate their children and once they graduate, they run their family businesses [applying what they learnt during their education],” Simbi said, hinting that Malawian small and medium entrepreneurs, who didn’t undergo higher education, cannot be expected to compete at par with the Malawians of Asian origin.