Graduates urged to embrace entrepreneurship amid job scarcity
Some top-performing graduates received job contracts with the Project Innovations Centre to help launch their own businesses.
BLANTYRE, Malawi— One of the country’s renowned entrepreneurs, Kondwani Kachamba Ngwira, has advised new graduates to embrace entrepreneurship as an alternative to the prevailing job scarcity in the country, writes Steven Godfrey Mkweteza.
“Today’s livelihood is very competitive as we have a huge number of school leavers looking for jobs. The companies that we have cannot absorb the numbers,” Ngwira said Friday at a graduation ceremony for 125 students at Soche Technical and Vocational College in Blantyre.
“Therefore, entrepreneurship is another way to go to sustain one's life."
Ngwira stressed that it is important to sustain lives through an entrepreneurial drive, not just seeking paid jobs.
He observed that economic shocks affecting Malawi are making it hard for the private sector to thrive and employ school leavers, contributing to job scarcity.
The entrepreneur appealed to authorities to support graduates with seed capital and training to encourage them to start their own businesses.
Ngwira advised the graduates to be leaders wherever they go and make a difference.
"Today's livelihood is very competitive," the entrepreneur said.
Paul Malunga, head of the construction department at the college, said the graduation affirms their mission to build capacity through training, research, consultancy and advisory services for better performance.
“Our courses are designed so students can stand on their own and prosper in life,” Malunga said.
He said the college has made it easier for more Malawians to pursue careers in various disciplines with course content tailored to the local environment, enabling graduates to more easily assimilate into industries.
Some top-performing graduates received job contracts with the Project Innovations Centre to help launch their own businesses.