Malawi youths reaping benefits of creativity, hard work

Pull up the first fish you hook, and in its mouth you will find a coin worth enough for my Temple tax and yours. Take it and pay our taxes.” Matthew 17:27

The demand for creativity and risk-taking plus hard work is paying well for youths in Malawi.

Many youths college educated or not, deciding not to seek formal employment but rather venture into creative and oftentimes risky business ventures, are reaping beautiful and bountiful results. Such a result may just be the boon the country needs to get out of poverty.

The country must relieve itself of the myth that outside injection of cash or investment is the answer to the doldrums of poverty, or that investors who get tax holidays will help the country. A backward look in the past 25 years has not yielded any such dream-come-true that policymakers in the government would have us believe will take place.

In fact, the opposite has happened whereby foreign “investors” enter Malawi, borrow money from local finance institutions, open a five-year granted tax holiday and within a few years, declare bankruptcy and then flee the country.

But eureka! There is some joy to dispel our gloom at the shark-like foreign investors, there is a rising wave of youths in the country that are not only refusing to seek formal employment and instead jump into the risk environment of business ventures. They are doing this with awesome and praiseworthy tenacity.

Six brief celebratory examples will suffice to highlight the enthusiasm that is afoot in the country.

Windmill maker: William Kamkwamba was 14 years old, out of school in 2000, the year when there was famine in Malawi. His desire to read led him to books about windmills that generate electricity.

Articles about his invention were in all newspapers in Malawi after young William took scraps and built a windmill attached to a 16-foot pole that generated electricity for his parent’s house and watered the family maize garden.

Film Producer: Chaz is Malawi’s latest buzzword around film-making. While citizens may recall the Aubrey Kalitera experiment in this genre of the entertainment sector, Chaz has all the promise of staying power. Based in the US, Chaz this year has taken things to another level with his latest film Misnomer.

Gasman and solar panel distributor: Mfundo Mbvundula vehemently stayed away from employment after his college education. After giving some serious thought to his “what next?” question, Mfundo set up a gas distribution company in Lilongwe. The canisters for his gas are painted a deep purple. Mfundo has also ventured into solar panel provision. His growing list of clients are mostly from the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

Agricultural engineer nerd: Providence Maliro has developed a computer programme that monitors the temperature and humidity in a smart greenhouse. The greenhouse uses sensors that send information to his computer. Providence has a smart pond that also has sensors that send data to his computer. No longer is it necessary to measure temperature or humidity by hand or manually. This new way is more efficient.

Providence, who gets his training at NxtGen Labs, a coding school and digital skills training centre, benefits greatly because it offers training in robotics with elements of machine learning or artificial intelligence.

Drones start-up manufacturer: As if the use of technology to boost agricultural output, Dumisani Kaliati, who is chief executive officer and founder of MicroMek, is the first Malawian-based drone startup. He joins the continental buzz. MicroMek, the manufacturer of the Malawian drone, is a low-cost, autonomous, fixed wing UAV for delivery of remote medicine in hard to reach areas.

Design shoemaker: Cobbler specialist Chimwemwe Mwenyemasi is making quality designer shoes of export quality that cost K39.99. Move over Bata shoes, a new kid is in town!

Other than our support through buying or sourcing their products and services, what else do these entrepreneurs do? They young upwardly mobile need numerous interventions, to enable them reach their next levels to enable Malawi reap bountiful benefits. Parliament could make laws that level the playing field. This would enable other youths to take such risks.