National Planning Commission (NPC) director general Thomas Chataghalala Munthali has urged financial firms and the private sector to partner and invest in the youth.

Speaking on Thursday in Blantyre during the second edition of Old Mutual Malawi Partnership Conversation Series, he said the youth hold the key to meaningful socio-economic development as they have brilliant ideas.

Munthali: Youths have brilliant mindsets

He said the youth have brilliant mindsets, as such, they need partnerships because most of them do not have money despite being capable of bringing positive change in the country.

Said Munthali: “Among the different groups of people, one might have one asset and not the other. The youth have brilliant mindsets whereas we have people with money who moved through in terms of knowing how to do it, but they are not innovative.

“There is, therefore, need for partnerships whereby if the financial institutions and the elderly see any brilliant ideas among the youth, they should come in quickly to fund the youth.”

He challenged financial institutions to help the youth, saying the success of youthful entrepreneurs will be the success of the financial institution as well as the country.

Munthali said: “If the young entrepreneurs find support from the financial institutions, they would never leave them, but create long-term relationships.

“On the other hand, these are the people that would be here in 2063 and beyond. Investing and partnering with these people would thus grow a youthful group that is creating wealth for all groups of people, thereby developing the country.”

In her remarks, Old Mutual Malawi plc group chief executive officer Edith Jiya underscored the need for partnerships, saying the country can develop socially and economically if the public and private sectors come together to discuss, plan and agree on a path that can help the country.

She said: “Now that we have come out of Covid-19, our focus going forward should be on how we invest in the youth so that they contribute to the development of the country effectively.

“The youth constitute a significant proportion of this nation and if we can leverage on their energy and innovation, we can develop this nation and achieve Malawi 2063 ambition.”

Jiya said the country has partnerships that are working, but challenges in the nature and frameworks of available partnerships are prevalent.

She said there is need to redefine the partnerships to focus on economic development.

“The youth have innovations and experienced people have finances. We, thus, need to come together to create something that helps propel Malawi forward,” said Jiya.

The 2018 Population and Housing Census shows that 60 percent of the country’s population comprises youths.

Through Malawi 2063, the country seeks to build an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant industrialised upper middle-income country by 2063.

The event was held under the theme ‘The Role of Partnerships in Enabling a Conducive Environment for the Rise of Young Entrepreneurs Towards Sustainable Youth Development’.

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