Africa-Press – Malawi. The Paul Katema Foundation on Friday night awarded 16 outstanding young entrepreneurs K200,000 each in seed funding as part of the ongoing Young Builders Challenge, an initiative designed to empower youth through entrepreneurship.
The award ceremony, which featured music performances, was streamed live on the Paul Katema Foundation Facebook page and Nyau Uyu.
The winners—drawn from both public and private universities across Malawi—were selected after presenting innovative business ideas to the Foundation.
Speaking during the live online announcement, Paul Katema, founder of the Foundation, emphasized that the selection process was based on merit.
“We combined public voting with a thorough evaluation from a diverse panel of six judges,” he said. “The judges’ input accounted for 40 percent of the final score, ensuring a transparent and fair process.”
Katema further disclosed that the competition attracted over 700 entries, underscoring the growing entrepreneurial spirit among Malawi’s youth.
“This initiative is about more than just funding,” Katema added. “It’s about igniting potential in our young people and equipping them with the tools to build businesses that drive change in their communities using home-grown solutions.”
The final awarding ceremony is scheduled for later this year.
Four finalists were chosen through a combination of public voting and the judges’ evaluations. The judging panel included:
Bensam – Multimedia sector
Vincent Kumwenda – ICT industry
Fellistus Ngwira – Multimedia
Dennis Imaan – Multimedia
Sparkle Topola – Professional nurse
These finalists, along with their runners-up and ten others from the open (non-school affiliated) category, will now advance to the next phase of the competition, where even greater rewards await.
The ultimate winner will receive K5 million, the runner-up K2.5 million, and the third-place finalist K1 million. All top prize winners will also benefit from tailored business mentorship to help turn their ideas into sustainable enterprises.
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