Technopreneurship Fair

Monday 12th December, 2016 will always be a day to remember for mHub, the female ICT enthusiasts and all the emerging entrepreneurs we trained with support from US Embassy. It was cause for double celebration as winners of the Stella and Christie Competition were also going to be announced.

The Mission Driven Aluminus Outreach, a project funded by the US Embassy in Malawi, came to a close with the graduation of the 42 girls who were trained in basic ICT and Entrepreneurship Skills. Through this initiative, these young ladies acquired basic business skills where they came up with their own business model canvas and learned how to pitch their business. They were also able to volunteer at government offices and primary schools, applying the skills they had learned so far.

While some of the girls wanted to break into Malawi’s fashion industry with their tailoring skills, mesmerize people with their drawings like Mphatso Namasasu, others came up with homegrown solutions to meet electricity and water shortages met by citizens in Malawi. A young Sophie Kadango’s business was to provide clean water to residents of Malawi, meeting the challenge of water scarcity. Mercy Semu, disappointed with how waste is handled in her community, decided to start her own waste management company where she’ll be recycling plastics.

We also closed the Stella and Christie Female developer’s challenge which is sponsored by the US-based Malawian family of Lindani and Linda Phiri. The winner of the competition, Thandie Magasa, developed a mobile app called Bright Future enhancing engagement between teachers and parents.

On this auspicious day, we had speeches from entrepreneurs Lombola Lombola-a social entrepreneur and Ngabaghila Chatata, Charles Lipenga of Maestros Leadership and Vera Kantukule of Patch Malawi.

Judging the competition was a team led by Dr Matthews Mtumbuka but also comprising of Yakossa Lucy Banda, Chifundo Chilibvumbo and Christine Mhone. The sponsors of Stella and Christie were represented by Dr. Linda Phiri all the way from the U.S. Our hope for all of these young ladies is that they find their potential, break down all barriers preventing them from becoming their best and follow their dreams!