Malawi Queens will be saving K75 million annually in camping expenses after Nico Group, through its subsidiaries Eris Properties and Nico Pension, on Monday leased them a house in Namiwawa , Blantyre.
During the handover of the 10-room fully furnished Queens House, NAM president Vitumbiko Gubuduza said they were grateful to the Malawi Stock Exchange-listed conglomerate for providing a three-year lease hold on top of the Malawi National Netball Team and One Nico Top 12 Cup sponsorships.
“We spend at least K25 million for the Queens per camp. But with this initiative, we will now be saving over K75 million per year on Queens’ accommodation. We thank Nico Group for this great initiative because the Queens now have a home,” she said.
Gubuduza said the facility, which stands on a 5.6 hectares plot, includes a physiotherapy room, an ice bath segment and a recovery area, will not only be a camping base for the national netball teams ahead of tournaments, but also help with income generation.
“The facility will be open for other sports codes to rent out for their camping when not in use by the netball teams,” she said.
Eris Properties chief executive officer Washington Chimuzu said there is room for lease extension at the end of the current deal.
He said their decision to provide the Queens a permanent home was born out of their conversation with NAM after looking at the financial struggles the national netball team faced when moving from one place to another for camping ahead of competitions.
“The Queens have been having camps over the years. Every time they were moving from one location to another. It was a time-consuming and costly exercise. Through the partnerships that One Nico has with NAM, an idea was born to help sort out the problem,” said Chimuzu.
Malawi National Council of Sports acting chief executive officer Ivy Chinangwa, who was the guest of honour at the handover, said government was excited with the development and will consider NAM’s request for the construction of a netball court on site.
Netball Africa secretary general Khungekile Madise-Matiya described the Queens House idea as cost-effective and timely.
