A Malawian entrepreneur based in the United Kingdom, Danass Chirwa Maddison, has challenged the youth in the country to make more beneficial use of the internet.
Maddison, who is currently in the country, made the remarks when she held a seminar on networking and entrepreneurship on Wednesday in Mzuzu.
“We are living in a world of technology where the internet is the backbone of businesses. In Malawi young entrepreneurs fail to break the market because of a lack of internet knowledge.
“I have businesses in the UK, Dubai, and here in Malawi. I have grown all these businesses because I know about the internet which helps me to see others manage their businesses,” she added.
Further, Maddison urged the youth to seriously consider using social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok to promote their products and services as is the case with the youth in many other countries.
One of the participants who is a fashion designer in Mzuzu, Christina Mbeye said the Networking and Entrepreneurship Seminar was an eye opener and that the knowledge she gained will help her grow her business.
“From this meeting, I have realized that we lacked knowledge, as young entrepreneurs. Now I am eager to start using the internet to promote my business,” Mbeye said.
The UK-based entrepreneur emphasized that the internet is key to networking and success, describing it as a cheaper and readily available resource for young entrepreneurs to learn how others run their businesses.
Also, Maddison hailed government and Non-Governmental Organizations for investing in the youth but decried the lack of progress in some projects due to failure in making follow-ups.
“We have failed as a country because we train youth but we don’t make follow-ups to see the progress.
“Let me assure you that I will come back to follow up on how the youth will fare in their businesses before I take another cohort after one year,” she added.
In this first cohort, Maddison says she is targeting 150 youths from all the regions of the country.
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The seminar in Mzuzu is not the first for Maddison to hold with young entrepreneurs in the country, previously she has held seminars in Blantyre and Lilongwe which are also part of her PhD research project in accounting.
