The Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) under the Digital Malawi Project (DIGMAP) has extolled its ‘Luntha ndi Chuma’ Digital Skills Development and Innovation initiative as the catalyst for developing the Malawi Vision 2063’s human capital among the youth and women in the country.
Speaking during the inspection tour on Tuesday in Blantyre at one of the technology hubs (tech hubs) under the initiative, NXTGen Labs–Mpemba Training Centre, DIGMAP Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Partnership Analyst Beatrice Kachepa said the Luntha ndi Chuma is building human capacity by equipping the youths with requisite digital and entrepreneurship skills fit for the labour market and businesses.
She said: “Most youths and women in rural areas find it hard to penetrate the digital space because of the lack of the requisite digital and entrepreneurship skills.
“This is why the PPPC under DIGMAP is complementing the Malawi 2063 agenda by implementing the ‘Luntha ndi Chuma’ Digital Skills Development and Innovation initiative. The initiative is building human capacity by nurturing and equipping the less privileged youth and women with the requisite digital and entrepreneurship skills fit for the labour market and businesses”.
Kachepa urged all tech enthusiasts under the ‘Luntha ndi Chuma’ initiative to innovatively apply their skills in their business endeavors and find jobs that require ICT literacy.
NXTGen Labs Administrative Manager Emily Bulawayo said the tech hub has so far trained 3371 youths and women in the districts of Mzimba, Mzuzu, Lilongwe, Blantyre, and Zomba.
She added that the hub has discovered that a lot of youths and women in rural areas are computer-illiterate hence “we are teaching them Courses such as Introduction to Computer with the primary focus on software and hardware, introduction Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Programming Languages, Emerging Technologies like Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Virtual Reality, just to mention a few.
Bridget Taulo, a trainee at NXTGen Labs–Mpemba Training Centre, said she was in dire need of the requisite digital and entrepreneurship skills to excel in the digital world.
“After finishing my secondary school education in 2021, I was just staying home doing nothing. But now, things will change because once I acquire the skills, I will excel in the digital world”.
The Commission through DIGMAP is implementing the ‘Luntha ndi Chuma’ initiative with funding from the World Bank through 9 tech hubs. The initiative aims to help tackle Malawi’s digital literacy and advanced ICT skills gaps; strengthen the digital innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem; and advance job creation, entrepreneurship, and creativity, particularly for the youth.
