By Mary Makhiringa:
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Patricia Wiskes, on Wednesday urged young people to embrace innovation and productivity as key drivers of Malawi’s socio-economic development.
Wiskes made the call during a visit to a youth-led organisation, Springs of Hope, in Balaka District, to appreciate progress made after the organisation received a financial grant under the Youth Innovation Fund, supported by the National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM) and Agricultural Commercialisation (AGCOM).
The Minister encouraged youths to form and operate in organised groups to enhance access to support and opportunities.
“It is very hard for government to employ every youth, but the other way is for the youths to be given financial boost so that in turn they can also employ fellow youths and this will fulfil the 2063 agenda,” Wiskes added.
NYCOM Director of Programmes, Williot Lumbe said the Youth Innovation Fund implementation towards Malawi 2063 is a flagship, and government initiative aimed at promoting youth led entrepreneurship, value addition and job creation.
“As NYCOM, we are looking for youths that have solutions for their areas’ development, and we believe that best youth solutions come from the youths themselves. We want to see youth led organisations venturing into value addition and in the process employing fellow youths to bridge the unemployment gap,” Lumbe added.
Executive Director of Springs of Hope, Kumbukani Mamba, commended NYCOM for the financial support, saying it will help the organisation achieve its goals.
“We received a financial boost of K30 Million from Youth Innovation Fund which will help unlock additional funding from AGCOM. We also intend to procure a tractor and farm implements, acquisition of soybean flour processing and packaging machines and to complete a warehouse and processing facility,” Mamba added.
Apart from Springs of Hope, another youth-led organisation in Balaka, Youth for Green Economy, also benefited from the fund, receiving K17.7 million to boost its operations.
