LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Entrepreneur and philanthropist Triephornia Mpinganjira on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 handed over MK1 million to Nsanje’s Bangula 20-year-old girl Chikondi Kamwendo for imaging as the first winner in MK18 million ‘Kuthandiza omwe alibe kuthekera kupita patsogolo’ project.
Mpinganjira made the announcement at Golden Peacock Hotel in the capital Lilongwe.
Announced on April 1, the project—which runs up to December this year—aims at providing MK1 million start-up capital every fortnight to enterprising youths in the country between the ages of 18 and 35.
According to Mpinganjira, the project received over 38, 000 applications and her team went through all the applications including making physical visits to potential winners.
“I am so excited with Chikondi as our first winner. She is a 20-year-old girl from a very poor background, staying in the remote areas of Bangula in Nsanje. Despite the poverty of her family, she managed to go to Nsanje Secondary and qualified for university education.
“She enrolled for Livingstonia University a year ago but couldn’t continue the third semester because her parents couldn’t manage her fees. She appealed to the administration to reserve her place. She returned home and started selling Zigege, thinking she would raise enough money for her fees. Because of social media, she got the announcement and made an application,” he said.
She said Chikondi’s business idea is original, practical, sincere, a product of research and pure understanding of the society she lives in.
“She lives in a disaster-prone area where food availability and accessibility is a big challenge. So, she wants to open farm store at Bangula where she will be selling maize, millet and beans at an affordable price.
“With K1 million, she has made her projections that she will make more MK2.5 million which she wants to invest back into the business until the second year where she will use part of the profits to return to school,” said Mpinganjira.
In her words, Chikondi—flanked by her mother—expressed great excitement about being the first winner and assured Mpinganjira and Malawians that she would be prudent in managing the funds ensuring that everything goes into her business.
