At SOS Children’s Village Malawi in Lilongwe, 280 students have graduated from the Youth Incubation Hub which was established with support from Malawi Government.
The graduation ceremony which took place on Friday at the institution premises was attended by the Minister of Youth Ulemu Msungama.
Equipment such as incubators and sowing machines among others were symbolically presented to the graduates.
Msungama encouraged the fresh graduates to make good use of the equipment so that they can be independent and create jobs for other youths.
He added that they believe that the beneficiaries are going to use the equipment for the intended purpose.
“Government introduced a project called Jobs for Youth to economically empower young men and women with skills for employability in decent work and sustainable entrepreneurship in Malawi. The leadership of President Lazarus Chakwera wants to ensure that graduates are provided with equipment needed instead of staying idle after graduating from different tertiary education institutions,” he explained.
On his part, SOS Deputy National Director Hope Msosa said they are very grateful for the support from the government and African Development Bank for the project which is enabling students to start business because their ambition is to impart the young people with the needed skills to make sure that they are contributing to the development of the country.
Msosa added that project has raised the profile of the SOS Children’s Village Malawi and its Vocational Training Centre in ways such as interaction with incubates, government and stakeholders.
The institution enrolled 316 incubates where 131 were male and 185 were females but 280 finished all the business processes.
More than 70 of the incubates have well established businesses in welding and metal fabrication, Hair Dressing and Tailoring and Fashion Designing.
