Old Mutual reaffirms commitment to youth empowerment

Old Mutual Malawi Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Edith Jiya, has reaffirmed her company’s commitment to empowering enterprising youth to thrive and create a positive future for themselves, their families, communities and the broader society.

Jiya made the remarks during the second edition of the Partnership Conversation Series (OMPCS), which was held at Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre.

The country’s premier financial service provider organized the tailor-made event to enhance partnerships and conversations that would propel development, shared value and mindset change.

The event was held under the theme: “role of partnerships in enabling conducive environment for the rise of young entrepreneurs towards sustainable youth development.”

Jiya said the introduction of the partnership conversation series is one of the avenues the company has identified to help enterprising Malawians to thrive in their respective businesses.

“This space is one of the best platforms to discuss as it brings together leaders from both the public and private sector as well as other stakeholders to discuss and share practical and workable solutions on a range of impacting issues around people, economy, and the environment. All this in fulfilling our purpose in helping our customers thrive and creating a positive future for them, their families, their communities and broader society,” she said.

“Old Mutual believes that partnerships are critical in bringing together public and private sectors to have discussions, plan and agree on a path that can help the society,” added Jiya.

In his remarks, the Director General of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Thomas Chataghalala Munthali, said what Old Mutual is doing resonates well with the youth-centric spirit of Malawi 2063 (MW2063) development agenda.

Munthali stated that, as part of its efforts to promote innovation among the youth, the Commission is in the process of implementing the Ndizotheka Programme, which does short documentaries of initiatives that are transforming the nation and communities by promoting the wealth creation and self-reliance agenda that embodies the MW2063.

He challenged successful entrepreneurship partnerships, especially amongst the youths to be part of the initiatives.

“I have in mind Old Mutual’s entrepreneurship development support towards the SANWECKA Tech Champions in Blantyre and the Tingathe Youth Organisation in Lilongwe, which he described as commendable initiatives that go beyond their initial financial education programme. Why are entrepreneurship partnerships not a common feature in Malawi? Selfishness – let all be mine and let me control freely.

“Unfortunately, discipline in business and finance management requires someone to be put in check – that is why there is corporate governance. So, what is the solution? Facilitate mind-set shift. How? Financial institutions should be more geared towards supporting partnerships and not individuals,” he said.

“Be it in mining, tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, etc. This is especially important for youths who may not have the experience in entrepreneurship but having brilliant business innovations – require them to form partnerships such as cooperatives so they can exert peer pressure on each other and can seek support of such institutions as Small and Medium Enterprise Development Institute (SMEDI) for training into business management and off-taker connections,” added Munthali.

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