World Bank awards four best innovation youth ideas
World Bank, through Malawi Youth Can (Tingathe) programme, on Tuesday awarded four youths with best innovative ideas.
The World Bank prize is one way of encouraging youths to put their ideas into practice rather than waiting to be employed.
The contest attracted 610 entries and there was a rigorous process to evaluate every entry which involved judges from within and outside the World Bank Group.
There were a whole range of ideas but at the end, only four youths—Hastings Chimala, Roy Makolosi, Tamiwe Katumba and Mervin Kamchacha—emerged winners and received their awards in Lilongwe.
The two top winners will tomorrow travel to Washington, DC, United States of America, on a 10-day trip while the other two will be on an internship at the World Bank country office in Lilongwe.
World Bank country manager Greg Toulmin said the initiative encourages youths to be creative by tackling and coming up with solutions to different challenges facing societies.
He said the Bretton Woods institution is committed to supporting science-based subjects that Malawi needs to propel economic growth. The same project is also supporting other technical skills.
“The youth of Malawi represent a significant and growing human resource with the potential to contribute to sustainable economic development,” said Toulmin.
One of the awardees, Hastings Chimala, commended World Bank for coming up with the initiative, saying youths should be encouraged in their innovation because they are a hub to drive the country’s development agenda.
“The programme will create jobs for youths through creativity and we will use our skills and talent to make it easier for investors to reach us,” he said.
