an economically independent Malawi!

Creating the Malawi We Deserve

through

The Power of Entrepreneurship

Henry Kachaje
(Managing Director)

Creating the Malawi We Deserve

through the Power of Entrepreneurship
Preamble >>>
In 2014, just about 14 months from now, Malawi will turn 50 years old! Yes, its been 50 years since we attained political independence from Britain. Nearly 50 years later, we are still economically dependent on our former colonial masters and a few other donors. Is this normal? Is this right? Should we be celebrating that we are an independent nation? A man of 50 years of age, with a family of his own, a wife and children is expected to be mature enough to take care of, and adequately provide for his immediate family and his relatives. Even the Bible says; If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1Timothy 5:8). With age, you expect some maturity and responsibility. Unfortunately as observed by Dr. John Maxwell, a world reknown leadership guru, age does not always come with maturity. Sometimes age comes alone! In the case of our beloved nation of Malawi: Sadly, age has indeed come alone, leaving maturity behind. What has gone wrong? Why at the age of 50 years as an independent nation we are still clinging to the breast of our mother? Why is it that after almost 50 years of age, we are still pathetically dependent on other nations to barely survive, economically? It is said that in 1964 when we attained political independence, Malawi was economically ahead of China, South Korea and Singapore! Just about 33 years ago, Malawi was economically ahead of China on a per capita income basis, and as I share this today, Malawi is looking up to China for financial handouts. Most people look at the New Parliament Building in awe and great appreciation, and attribute that beautiful structure to the success of the previous government. But each time I pass by that parliament building I feel very ashamed, I feel very humiliated as a citizen of this country. I ask myself the question: Are we that poor that even after more than 45 years
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

of political independence we could not even afford, as a nation, to spare a few millions of Kwachas to build a parliament building with our own resources? Should we be proud as a nation of about 50 years of age that our parliamentarians, the highest law-making body for the nation, meet in a donated building? Would they think beyond donordependence whilst meeting in a donated building? Nearly 50 years after attaining political independence, Malawi has a population of over 14 million people, out of which, only 7% (less than 1 million) have access to electricity, leaving the rest of the 13 million in darkness! Is this the kind of development we should be proud of? [Verify statistic] Nearly 50 years after attaining political independence, generating just about US$ 300 million to cover our fuel import bill for the privileged handful citizens who can afford a used car from Japan is still a major challenge. Nearly 50 years after attaining political independence, each year, our major concern is whether we have enough maize to feed the population. The debates by our parliamentarians, who gather in the beautiful donated building, have largely focused on maize: How do we produce enough each year? I have never heard that the debate has extended to discuss the kind of relish people eat in this country since we are still pre-occupied figuring out how we can harvest enough maize to last us 365 days! Is this normal? Is this a true reflection of the kind of maturity we have attained nearly 50 years after attaining political independence? Allow me to draw some comparisons between Malawi, a nation of some 14 million people and a boy of 28 years old who lives in America called Mark Zuckerberg:

Malawi
1 2 3 4 5 6 Became independent in 1963 Home to some 14 million people

Mark Zuckerberg
Was born on 14th May 1984 He is just a boy of 28 years

Earned about US$ 290 million from Worth US$17.5 billion in 2011 from a tobacco sales in 2011 simple Social Network called Facebook Poorest peaceful nations on earth 14th Richest American!

Struggling to find about US$300 Can afford to pay for Malawi fuel bill for at million to pay for annual fuel bill least 55 years! Has no vision, no clear direction! Has a vision. Has a clear direction
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

Nearly 50 years after attaining political independence, we are no near attaining our economic independence, and still not sure which strategies will bring about this much needed economic status. Things must change and change must come Now! As clearly articulated by Albert Einstein; The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed, unless we change our thinking. The Malawi we have today is a product of our thinking. If we desire to have a different Malawi: an economically independent and prosperous Malawi, we must first of all change the way we think. We need a paradigm shift. Albert Einstein was merely expounding on wisdom of King Solomon: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he
(Prov. 23:7 KJV).

Sustainable change must begin with the change of ones thinking. It is

time as Malawians we changed the way we think, because the current level and quality of thinking has failed to bring about economic independence.

We Deserve Better! We Must Have Better >>>

We deserve a rich, economically prosperous, free and peaceful Malawi. Thank God we have the peace! Thank God we are becoming free (otherwise, I wouldnt have had the courage to say what I am saying today). But we are far from being rich and prosperous in a country that has been blessed with such enviable peace, a lot of natural resources, blessed with so many perennial rivers and the third largest lake in Africa. Time has come that we stop the blame game. Each one of us as a patriotic Malawian must take full responsibility for his or her own life and the future of our beautiful nation of Malawi. Each one of us must ask the revolutionary question the late president J. F. Kennedy once challenged Americans with:

Ask not what your country can do for you; rather ask what you can do for your country.

Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

We cannot continue perishing economically while pushing the blame to our former colonial powers, or to the one party MCP state. Neither should we blame the UDF government, the DPP government or indeed the PP government. I hear people blaming the government and crying to the government to ensure that the vulnerable are cushioned from the effects of the current turbulent economic situation. I hear people demanding that government must guarantee Malawians availability of forex, fuel, jobs, electricity, and other social amenities. Yes the government must lead and come up with policies and strategies that will take this nation out of the wilderness of poverty into the promised land of prosperity. But each one of us as individual citizens must play our role to get this country from donor dependence to economic independence. Each one of us has contributed to the current sorry state of affairs. Each one of us has contributed to the depletion of the little forex that a few hard working Malawians generate. Just picture yourself being in your house right now: visualize walking through to your bedroom, to your living room, enter your kitchen: look at the spoons, the knives you use, the glasses you have, the plates you eat from, the TV you watch, the sofas you sit at, the blankets and bed sheets you sleep in, the shoes and socks you wear, the clothes you have ask yourself: How many of the products and things that I have and use on a daily basis are imported and how many are locally produced? What percentage of my possessions is imported and what percentage is locally manufactured? If you do an honest audit, you will get the answer as to why we have serious forex shortages in this nation. We are a predominantly importing nation. We import spoons, toothpicks, wooden spoons, tomato source, blankets, bed sheets, nail polish, you name it! We are even importing fake hair to make our women look beautiful! Each one of us must play a part in moving Malawi from being a predominantly consuming nation to a producing nation; from a net importer to a net exporter; from poverty to prosperity. As Graca Machel, wife to Nelson Mandela said, Therefore my challenge to each of you is that you ask yourself what you can do to make a difference. And then take that action, no matter how large or how small

Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

Change the Thinking, and You Change the Results >>>

My fellow Malawians, there is nothing wrong with Malawi as a nation. But there is definitely something wrong with the way we Malawians think. In the same country, a foreigner may come as a refugee, penniless, broke as a church mouse. And within a few months, that person will begin to prosper financially and we envy him and lobby government to chase him as some unwanted foreign investor. It is no secret that almost 90% of all commercial property in the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu are owned by foreigners or Malawians of Asian descent. Tell me: What year did we go to war with some Asian countries and they defeated us and took over our land by force? These people peacefully came into our country, smartly engaged into business activities, made some money, and our fathers willingly sold the land to them! It was a clean, smart and legal transaction! To have a fair share of the commercial activities in our country, we must not resent the rich, the prosperous, or the foreigners. King Solomon already warned against this when he said: Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom... (Ecclesiastes 10:20). Rather, we should ask ourselves: 1. What do the rich and prosperous do that we are not doing? 2. How can we learn from them and achieve the same results as they have? We are the generation that must bring about the change. We must stop blaming, cursing or envying those that are prospering among us. We must begin to use the creative power of our brains to birth the kind of Malawi we will be proud to pass on to the next generation. We must ask ourselves some soul-searching questions: 1. What things must we do differently? 2. What different things must we do? The Japanese describe insanity as doing the same things, the same way you have always done and then expecting to get different results. That is insanity. Any seasoned football coach knows that he can not improve the performance of his team by simply changing the color of the uniform. He will be insane believing that by simply changing the color of the jerseys from Yellow to Blue to Orange or even Green will drastically improve the performance of his team while maintaining the same players, same tactics,
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

and same game plan. If the coach wants the team to win, he must change tactics, the game plan and sometimes he may have to change the players completely!

Time to Change Tactics. Time to Change Our Game Plan >>>

There are things we do in this nation that bring and perpetuate poverty and financial struggling: We must carefully and correctly identify them and stop doing them if we are to move ahead economically. We must lay aside every weight that hinders.. A few of these are:

1. Stop the blame game and take full responsibility of our destiny as Malawians. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones weve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek Wise words from Senator Barack Obama uttered before he became the first black president of USA. How so true! Ask yourself some more painful questions:
a) How much forex comes into this nation because of my productivity? b) What am I doing that is helping this nation generate forex? c) What am I doing that is helping Malawi become a producing and competitive nation? d) What am I doing to help Malawi move toward sustainable economic development? e) How many jobs have I created in this nation?

2. Stop glorifying death. Start focusing on Abundunt Life, a Prosperous Life: In Malawi, death is generally revered more than life. Most of our decisions are pro-death. People will go to attend a funeral (kukaonekera) simply because they are afraid that if they dont show up people may also abandon them during a time of a berevement in their own family. People will chose a church not because it teaches and preaches life, but because it burries the dead with more dignity, hence serving as an excellent burial society!

Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

I once intervied a young lady of 25 year for the job of secretary. At the end of the interview, we asked her if she had any questions to us as her prospective employers, and she energetically answered yes, she had one question: Do you provide a coffin when a person dies? This was the sadest question I have ever been asked by a job-seeker in my entire professional life! Why would a young lady of 25 be so concerned about how she will be burried after she is dead rather than be so concerned with how the company would make her work life progressive, educative, fun and successful? In church we sing songs like Kwathu sipadziko ndingopitirira (This world is not my home, I am just passing by), and yet when I read from the Bible in Genesis 1:26, God does not seem to suggest that our stay on this planet earth is so temporary that we can claim that we are merely passing by. The challenge with this kind of Mind Programming is people think and believe that since they are not staying long on earth, they dont have to plan long-term, they dont think of long term invests bacause they are living temporarily, they are just passing by. People that are passing by will not dig wells, plant orchards, build permanent houses because they are simply passing by, waiting to depart anytime very soon. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr onced said: Even if I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today!

3. We must Stop Focusing on Poverty and Begin to Focus on Creating Prosperity. The law of attraction states that what you focus your mind on, expands and grows. You attract into your life what youfocus on. If you focus on a problem: how grave it is, how devastating it is becoming, how complicated it is, your brain is paralyzed and you can hardly be creative to generate solutions. But if you acknowledge that you have a problem, then focus your whole attention to generating solutions to solve that problem, you will be amazed to discover that many possible solutions are actually so close to your nose. As a country, I propose that we stop programs like Poverty Reduction, Pro-poor Budgets. We must focus on Wealth Creation Programs, Job Creation Programs, Export Growth Programs, Creativity and Productivity Enhacement Programs. Let us have our ministers of finance develop and present Pro-Wealth, Productivity Enhancement and Job Creation National Budgets.
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

4. We must stop Living Aimlessly: We must Become Visionary as Individuals as well as a Nation: The warning is loud and clear: Where there is no vision, the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18). This warning from King Solomon includes economic perishing. Malawi is where it is today economically because of lack of a clear national shared vision. I do not know if our leaders have any clue as to where they would like to see Malawi in 2050. If they do, then I as a citizen I am not well informed. One may be led to believe that the country is moving in any direction suggested and proposed by anyone with a fat purse who makes any shallow promises of some free handouts. We are controlled by short-term thinking and short-term planning. We have become a Pompo-pompo nation. The longest active plans we have as a nation only project five years into the future, and this is very sad.

We once had vision 2020, it gave hope to discerning Malawians. Sadly, when leadership changed hands, no one seemed to refer to it any more as the core basis for making our economic direction. In case some of you have no clue what vision 2020 stated, here it is:

By the year 2020, Malawi as a God-fearing nation will be secure, democratically mature, environmentally sustainable, self reliant with equal opportunities for and active participation by all, having social services, vibrant cultural and religious values and being a technologically driven middle-income economy.

Vision 2020 was developed following nationwide consultations, network activities and national workshops. If you look at the list of people, organizations, groups and traditional leaders that were consulted, one would think at least this was one single document that truly represented the aspirations of Malawians. Why does no one ever want to refer to this document anymore? Is it perhaps that it was developed during the time of a certain political party and the others fear supporting it would imply acknowledging the success of the other party? If this will be the thinking in our democratic dispensation, then democracy is the curse that will keep this beautiful country in perpetual poverty.
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

We can not develop and transform an economy with five-year short-term plans and visions. We need to set atleast a 30-year vision. We must ask ourselves: What is our vision? What kind of a nation do we desire to become by 2043? What must we become in order to attain our vision? What must we stop doing today? What kind of education do we need today so that we achieve our vision? What must we be doing today?

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5. We must Stop Wasting Resources: It doesnt matter how much money you earn, but if you always spend more than you earn, you will never become rich. This principle applies to both individuals as well as a nation. As Malawians we are generally very careless and wasteful. We waste at least 40% of all the maize we harvest because we cant preserve it properly. Then we waste another 30% of what is left during processing the maize into maize flour. Then we waste about half the nsima we cook by either over-eating or throwing away what is left over!

It is estimated that 50% of all the vegetables, tomatoes and fresh fruits we grow and harvest in Malawi rot! Just think about this: for every two baskets of tomatoes, one is thrown into the bin, they rot and we throw them away! Probably the most heart-breaking recent example of waste is the French Cultural Centre case in Blantyre. The place was in very good working condition, artists and musicians have been developed in this country, thanks to that place whilst it was in the hands of the French Embassy. Then disaster happened: The government of Malawi bought the place for about MK300 million using tax payers money and the rest is history. The place was neglected, not guarded, totally vandalized and rendered totally unusable. Rumour has it that as tax payers, we will have to spend another MK300 million or more to repair it! How do we expect to develop economically with such wasteful behaviour by government?

6. Stop Perpetuating Dependence: Encourage Self-Reliance: We must reduce the number of dependent citizens and increase the number of self-reliant citizens capable of lending a hand to those genuinely in need. The more people we have that can fend for themselves, the easier it will be to attain economic
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

independence. To achieve sustainable socioeconomic development, we must have a program that challenges people to be proud to take care of themselves and be ashamed to receive free handouts when they are physically capable of working for themselves. People must be taught the value of hard work and selfreliance. At all costs we must discourage free handouts no matter how politically beneficial they may be to those in leadership.

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What the Private Sector Expects from Government >>>

Businesses dont operate in a vacuum. They operate within the policy framework set by government. Therefore, it is imperative that the two sides, government and business work together for the common good of the Malawian nation. The wish-list from private sector can be long, but I will highlight the few critical, must haves as follows: 1) Create a conduce environment for doing business in Malawi. Malawi continues to rate poorly as an investment destination. Government must realize that with globalization, Malawi is in stiff competition with the rest of the world as far as attracting foreign direct investment is concerned. As a country, we must improve our competitiveness and make it attractive and profitable to set up and do business in Malawi. We need to realize that a foreign investor has a wide choice: Does he invest and set up his factory in Kenya, Botswana, China, Argentina, Rwanda, Mozambique or Malawi? We must ask ourselves: What must we do to make Malawi an enviable haven for investors? Investors are not sympathisers, they are investors. They make economic and business assessments before deciding to invest in a particular country. 2) Have a clear long term vision and consistent policies: Businesses dont change overnight like political parties. Governments in a multiparty democracy are bound to change every five years. Businesses on the other hand, need to invest for the long term, 10 years, 20 years or even 50 years! When government gives a policy direction; for example: We will focus on the cotton industry, or we will develop the Nacara Corridor, or We will develop the Nsanje inland port. Businesses are given direction as far as investments are concerned. They begin to explore investment opportunities in line with the policy direction given by the government. They, for example, purchase land in Nsanje, to construct
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

warehouses, build hotels, build restaurants... and these are high capital investments. The businesses can only hope to realize a return on their investments after ten or fifteen years. In the middle of their investments, the government changes hands; the new government leadership abandons the idea of the Nsanje inland port. Let us imagine they now start talking about the Northern Corridor... such drastic changes in policy direction confuses the business community and discourages serious long term investments. All we are asking government is say what you mean; mean what you say, and stick with what you say regardless that you have changed uniform colours!

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3) Simplify the process and cost of doing business: Government must realize private sector is a vital partner in economic growth of Malawi. Government must therefore make it easy for anyone desiring to start a business to do so with minimum impediments. Make it easy for a person staying in Chitipa to register his or her business in Chitipa. The citizen staying in Nsanje does not have to travel all the way to Blantyre just to register a business name. Reduce unnecessary costs to starting and operating a business in Malawi. Let all government ministries, departments and institutions involved in licensing, policing and regulating businesses, should work to facilitate the growth and development of the private sector in Malawi and not act as stumbling blocks to doing business. If a Malawian citizen is looking for a piece of land for example, dont make him or her dance around for over 3 years, crawling on their knees at the Ministry of Lands just to obtain the mercy of the controlling officers to do them a favour just so they can be able invest in their own country. If Malawi is to develop, this must stop. 4) Prioritize Infrastructure Development that Support Business Growth: The government is privileged to control the biggest pot of resources in Malawi through tax collections and developmental donor support of various programs. The private sector wishes to request government to consult with it and prioritize infrastructure that can have multiple ripple effects in the development and support of business growth in Malawi. Private sector fully understands the resources are always limited, and that is why it is interested to see that
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

government prioritizes the development infrastructure that is more commercially viable to the overall development of country. 5) Make it easy for Malawian businesses to proudly use the name Malawi. Drop archaic laws that make it almost impossible for anyone to use the name Malawi in their business as if they are not a Malawian. Government must realize that the more businesses use the name Malawi; sell their products as proudly Malawian, the more we will be enhancing Malawi as an international brand name. We would rather have Malawi associated with businesses and Malawian products on the international stage than to associate the name Malawi only with poverty, donor dependence and HIV and Aids pandemic. 6) Invest In The Future Generation: The biggest loss that democracy brought to our nation in my view is the loss of patriotism and commitment to issues of national development. We have governments that only focus on what they can do to gain votes today even if what they do is detrimental to national development in the long run. We have become a nation that only thinks as far as five years. This is very sad. We must learn from the Chinese proverb: One generation plants a tree, another enjoys the shade. To develop Malawi economically, we need to sacrifice some present benefits for the sake of the next generation. We must realize that the mbawa trees we are cutting down today were planted by our grandparents. We need to realize we must do the same for the next generation. We may lose political popularity with this way of thinking, but our conscious will be clear if we do not only think of our individual survival today, but think of our children, their children and the generations to come.

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7) Transform Malawi into a Producing and Exporting Nation: We have a good dream to transform Malawi from a predominantly consuming and importing nation into a producing and exporting nation (I am hoping and crossing my fingers that this is one of the dreams the current leadership would desire to uphold for it is a noble one). Private sector wishes to fully support this dream for it does not only make Malawi into a global competitive nation, but also increases productivity and
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

profitability in individual businesses. But what will it take to achieve this dream? There are a number of things that we must do. Below are but just a few: a) Abandon all pro-poor customs and beliefs: We must work together as a nation to stop customs and cultures that hinder productivity. For example, we can no longer be closing businesses and stopping government business each time death occurs, and still hope to increase our productivity as a nation. b) We must work half a day, six days a week: The Bible says, Six days thou shall labour. It is time we obeyed this command. As John Hague once shared, his father told him when he was a boy to work just half a day; and it was up to him to choose which twelve hours to work! We cannot afford the luxury of working less than 9 months in a year while we are competing with nations that devote the entire 12 months to productive work, only taking a week or two of vacation. The average farmer only works from October to March (6 months), while the person in the office spends as much as 2 to 6 months in a year doing nothing productive. We need to work harder if we are to become globally competitive. c) We must mechanise our farming: We cannot expect to become competitive on the farm whilst using a hoe while our competitors are now using GPS guided tractors. We must prioritize farm mechanization if we are to achieve our dream of becoming a producing nation. With a third of the country covered in fresh waters, there is no reason why Malawi cannot become the bread basket of the whore of Southern region of Africa IF we stopped singing about irrigation and started investing in irrigation. d) We need to have a sense of urgency our lives: Malawi is on record as being the slowest nation on earth. You just have to observe people crossing the roads, giving service in offices or observe government officers at work, and it will become blatantly obvious that we as a people are always on vacation! I once had a chat with a lady from Taiwan who was working with one of the Malawian businesses and she lamented that it was so frustrating to see that what takes only 2 days to complete in Taiwan, takes two weeks to do
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

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in Malawi. We do things as if we have all the time in the world. If we are to become a globally competitive nation in whatever area we prioritize, we must act with a sense of urgency. e) We must be patriotic: It is time we stopped doing projects, or developing papers and going to workshops to discuss those papers simply because there is donor funding and we hope to get some allowances. We must become patriotic and do what we believe in our hearts will bring about positive change in our nation even when we do not personally benefit from the initiative. We must learn to do whatever we do as unto the Lord.

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f) We need to change more things: We cannot afford to have almost the entire cabinet, government high ranking officials, directors of parastatals and thousands of women leave their offices, businesses and farms; simply to lineup to greet and dance at the airport each time the head of state leaves or comes into the country. We need to question many things we take for granted in this nation. We are where we are today because of what we traditionally do. To change our destiny as a nation, we must change certain traditions.
"Entrepreneurs have literally destroyed poverty in the Western world as the rest of the world knows it, and as history knows it.

Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship >>>

Malawi desperately needs economic diversification, growth and development through the creation of a vibrant private sector. There is evidence that small and medium enterprises mentored, (SMEs), if properly organized, can trained, contribute

No other social system can compete with the entrepreneurial free market system in terms of productivity, raising standards of living and creating permanent prosperity. Asia has exploded out of poverty in my lifetime thanks to entrepreneurs. Huge chunks of poverty should be taken out of Africa in the next ten years, thanks to up-and-coming entrepreneurs."
- Jon Butcher.

developed and supported,

significantly to the development of national economies through job creation, economic diversification and meaningful contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP). Malawi must decide and commit today to grow up and work hard to become a nation of age.
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

Malawi turns 50 years after next year, sadly, still in diapers, still breast feeding and still living with parents! You and I, working together, can change the next 50 years through the power of entrepreneurship. According to figures from the African Development Bank and OECD Development Centre, African Economic Outlook (2004-2005):
1) SMEs in Kenya employed some 3.2 million people in 2003 and accounted for 18 percent of national GDP. Entrepreneurship isnt about capital; its about ideas. A great deal of entrepreneurship can be taught and we desperately need to teach it as we confront the huge global challenges of the twenty first century."
Sir Richard Branson
(Serial entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Group with over 350 companies worldwide

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2) In Senegal, the SMEs contributed about 20 percent of national value-added. 3) In Nigeria, SMEs account for some 95 percent of formal manufacturing activity and 70 percent of industrial jobs.

4) In Morocco, 93 percent of all industrial firms are SMEs and account for 38 percent of production, 33 percent of investment, 30 percent of exports and 46 percent of all jobs! 5) Micro and very small businesses in South Africa provided more than 55 percent of total employment and 22 percent of GDP in 2003. Small firms accounted for 16 percent of both jobs and production and medium and large firms 26 percent of jobs and 62 percent of production.

Though statistical data is hard to come by, there is no doubt that in Malawi SMEs are already contributing significantly to the creation of formal and informal employment. With a program specifically designed to harness and develop the potential of SMEs, Malawi will achieve significant sustainable economic development through the contribution of SMEs to private sector growth and development. Lack of entrepreneurship training and business development services at a grand scale have limited the growth potential of the SME sector in Malawi. It is no secret that the Malawi economy has stagnated, and in some sectors, shrinking. There is no more sense putting our trust in donors to help revive our economy while they are equally suffering from the effects of the global economic crisis. As Malawian business community, we must take it upon ourselves to invest into the development of the SME sector, which has the potential to create a vibrant economy that we can all benefit from.
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

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As observed by one Malawian entrepreneur, Mr Hitesh Anadkat; "Only if entrepreneurs take the risks and apply their creativity and energies, can economies grow. As a country we need to do whatever it takes to encourage entrepreneurs. We need to celebrate entrepreneurs and make entrepreneurs the heroes of young people and our children".

Entrepreneurs are a great asset to any nation. They take the risks, explore opportunities for creating wealth and in the process, they bring creativity to the nation, they bring efficiency, productivity and create jobs. Indeed, entrepreneurs and businesses must create jobs, not governments. Governments must streamline its labour force, doing only what private sector cannot do more competently and more equitably. Entrepreneurs are a great asset when it comes to building sustainable economic development. They are critical in changing the mindsets of the general populace because they demand productivity and value addition. They demand efficiency, effectiveness and hard work. Successful entrepreneurs are driven by the following key qualities: 1) They believe Impossible doesnt exist: They believe the impossible will only remain impossible until someone makes it possible, and they freely volunteer for the task.
In 1903 the New York Times carried an article that implied that an attempt to create a flying machine would be a waste of time and money. That such an invention would most likely take the combined efforts of thousands of the worlds top scientists and as many as ten million years! Yet just a few months later, two uneducated, unknown and unfunded brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, flew the worlds first airplane right through the smoke screen of impossibilities!

That is the power of entrepreneurship at work!

2) Entrepreneurs are visionary: Entrepreneurs believe in creating their desired future in their minds first before physically working on bringing it into physical
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

being. No clearer example of this spirit comes to mind other than that of the legendary inventor and industrialist, Henry Ford. In 1907, when horse carriages ruled the highways of America, he created the present reality we see today in his mind when he dreamt:
We will build a motor car for the great multitude it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in Gods great open spaces. Every one will be able to afford one, and everyone will have one. The horse will have disappeared from our highways and the automobile will be taken for granted.

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That is the power of entrepreneurship at work!

3) Entrepreneurs are patient. They believe in late gratification: Entrepreneurs understand that it takes years to grow an ark tree. They understand it takes 9 months from conception to the time a baby is born. They understand it takes even more years before the baby grows into a man or woman. This is why entrepreneurs are patient with their investments. They know overnight success takes years of planning, preparations, hard work and dedication. They know and value the principle of late gratification. They know they must be willing to forgo short-term pleasures and comfort for the sake of future and lasting success.

4) Entrepreneurs see opportunities where the average person sees just challenges: Entrepreneurs focus on different things and their ability to see what no one else sees thus makes them a critical asset to national development because they compliment government efforts in exploring opportunities for national development through enterprise development and job creation. Sir Richard Branson, the global serial entrepreneur behind the Virgin Group listed a few of his achievements in the previous year his book, Business Stripped Bare published in 2007. The list included: 1) 6 new 747 400s (airplanes bought!) 2) 10 new A340 600s (airplanes bought!) 3) Ordered 5 new A380s biggest plane in the world
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

4) Opened game reserve in Africa 5) Bought 5 miles coastline for new hotel 6) Sold 5,000 cars through VirginCars.Com 7) Sold a million mobile phones 8) Secured site for largest cinema in the world in Tokyo 9) Sold 20,000 mortgages 10) Train line sold 10 million tickets 11) Bought or built 100 Virgin Active Centres both in South Africa and Britain 12) Launched Virgin Mobile in Australia 13) Launched Virgin Blue low cost airline in Australia 14) Set up Virgin Travel Store and the list went on and on

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When you think of all these projects and achievements, birthed and implemented through the Virgin Group, you cannot help to be amazed at how much potential lies in the spirit of entrepreneurship. Just think of how many jobs were created and sustained through Richard Bransons initiatives! God knows how many jobs will be created in Malawi when we release and support the culture of entrepreneurship in this nation! God knows how many people will be lifted out of poverty in Malawi when we consciously and intentionally work together to support and develop our entrepreneurs in this nation. At Business Consult Africa, we believe that the economic prosperity of Africa depends on its entrepreneurs. We believe time has come that we consciously and intentionally recruit, organize, train, mentor, coach, inspire, motivate and support a large number of entrepreneurs, both existing and potential, to help innovate and invent new products, create future industries, create jobs and contribute towards private sector growth and sustainable socioeconomic development in Malawi. With this conviction, on behalf of Business Consult Africa, I am pleased to announce the start of a Revolution... the kind of revolution that will create 1,000,000 jobs by 31 st December 2017 through the development and support of 200,000 entrepreneurs!
Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship

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It is with great humility that I and the team at Business Consult Africa have accepted Gods call upon our lives to work as his servants to lead the economic transformation of the beautiful nation of Malawi. Malawi will soon be called the economic miracle of Africa because God will do a great and mighty transformation. God is challenging Malawi to stop looking to the West for help. It is time we looked Up for help. This project will cost over MK1.5 billion, (about US$ 5 million) and we are proud to say it is NOT donor funded... it is God funded!

For this reason, we are fully committed and willing to be used as his servants to see this dream come to pass. We are doing this because we are called to do this!

Failure is NOT an option!

God richly bless Malawi as you take up the challenge and join the revolution. Henry Kachaje
Managing Director Business Consult Africa
______________________ 18 October, 2012
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Creating the Malawi We Deserve through the Power of Entrepreneurship