Mining, Tourism ministries win innovation awards

Ministries of Tourism and Mining have separately scooped Public Sector Innovation Challenge (PSIC) Award with monetary rewards worth $40 000 (about K70 million) each.

The initiative, supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aims to promote innovation and the two ministries beat 17 entrants to be recognised for their outstanding efforts in identifying challenges and opportunities to be more productive in their performance and enhance revenue generation to deliver services effectively and efficiently using innovative approaches.

President Lazarus Chakwera presented the awards during a ceremony at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe yesterday to commemorate World Creativity and Innovations Day which falls on April 29. The UNDP set the day in 2002.

The President said he decided to use the commemorations to encourage, especially the youth, to do more innovations that can help in the transformation agenda.

He said the government has several instruments the youth can use to advance their innovations and turn them into viable businesses, citing the K73 billion National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef) and the Muuni Funder under the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra).

Said Chakwera: “These initiatives were set up to support those with innovation potential to turn their ideas into viable businesses that can help in economic growth.”

The Ministry of Mining was awarded the PSIC for developing a blockchain-based mining transactions monitoring system while the Ministry of Tourism was recognised for the multi-module tourism digital information management system.

Ministry of Mining Principal Secretary (PS) Joseph Mkandawire said the innovation will help to address the problem of wrong invoicing and under-declarations by miners; hence, helping to increase revenue collection.

He said: “We’re trying to increase revenue from the sector and this innovation will help us track the mining activities.

“At the moment, we depend on the information we get from the miners which can be manipulated but with this innovation we will be able to monitor from our office.”

Some of the participants called for more efforts to clear up the innovation space for vibrant innovation sector.

One of the participants, Nthanda Manduwi, who founded an innovation hub, said there is need for more policy interventions as the country is endowed with innovative minds that need nurturing.

During the commemoration, a number of youths and small firms displayed their innovations.