NBM Plc Flies ICTAM Winners to African Tech Summit in Kigali
In keeping with the commitment it made during the announcement of an MOU with Information Communication Technology Association of Malawi (ICTAM) in 2019, National Bank of Malawi (NBM) Plc last week treated two top innovators with cash prizes and a fully paid trip to the African Tech Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
This follows the 2019 ICTAM lakeshore conference where Pilirani Kumasewera emerged the overall winner for pitching Padziwe online school. Sam Masikini, a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Organisation and Methods Division fourth year student at the University of Malawi, Polytechnic was awarded for the best IoT in the Artificial Intelligence category for his voice controlling system called “Thandi. Both the winner and was runner up.
Both innovators said they gained a wealth of experience and networks at the conference which run from the 4th to the 6th of February, 2020.
Said Kumasewera, ‘’I have met a lot of influential people with different innovation ideas and established the foundation for partnership opportunities. The information and networks I have taken away from Rwanda have encouraged me to do more in expanding my business to other countries.’’
Masikini, on the other hand, said engagement with Microsoft and other companies had encouraged him to use digital infrastructure to enhance Malawi’s development.”
NBM Plc Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Akossa Hiwa expressed hope that the experience would further spur the 2019 winners and others beyond them to work diligently at utilizing innovation in providing innovative solutions that would foster Malawi’s development.
‘In 2019, the Bank of the Nation committed to support young innovators with the intention of helping them utilize their exceptional talent to further Malawi’s development. NBM Plc has kept this commitment and will continue to do so for the duration of this partnership for the benefit of the country it which it operates, the clients it serves, the stakeholders it engages with and the shareholders for which it creates value’, reiterated Hiwa.
In September 2019, National Bank of Malawi plc made a commitment to support young ICT entrepreneurs a way of promoting different talents in the ICT industry that would help not only the banking sector but also the country as a whole
