Building the Next Generation of African Talent
Two members of the fifth cohort of the M’mawa Apprenticeship Programme (MAP): Andrew Kaimaima and Lawrent Chowe have graduated from the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) with Distinctions — an achievement we are immensely proud to celebrate at the Ntha Foundation.
Both graduates studied Computer Systems and Security at MUST and came through MAP, one of the Ntha Foundation’s flagship youth development programmes delivered through the Kwathu Kollective.
Their achievement is particularly meaningful to us because it represents something at the heart of the Ntha Foundation’s work: education matters, but what happens around and beyond the classroom matters too.
For years, our work has focused on creating pathways through which young Africans can move from learning, to doing, to leading.
Celebrating Excellence
The fifth MAP cohort brought together five students from MUST studying Business Information Technology and Computer Systems and Security. Alongside their university education, the apprentices gained practical experience through the Kwathu Kollective, contributing to work spanning digital transformation, artificial intelligence, agriculture, robotics, research, entrepreneurship and systems development.
As the cohort graduates, two of its members have completed their degrees with Distinctions, while another two graduate with Credits.
We celebrate all five members of the cohort and the different paths that now lie ahead of them.
The Kwathu Kollective has published the full Cohort 5 story, including profiles of the apprentices, their work and their journey through MAP.
For the Ntha Foundation, their graduation also gives us an opportunity to reflect on the larger system these programmes were designed to build.
Beyond Education: The Kwathu Upgrade
The Ntha Foundation has always been interested in a question larger than access to education:
What happens after someone learns?
A university degree can provide knowledge and technical foundations. But navigating the transition from university into employment, leadership or entrepreneurship requires another set of experiences: applying knowledge to real problems, working in teams, communicating professionally, understanding organisations, experimenting, failing, building and learning how to create value.
This is the space in which Kwathu Upgrade operates.
Through the Kwathu Kollective, the Ntha Foundation has developed two core pathways within this work: the M’mawa Apprenticeship Programme (MAP) and the Nyenyezi Entrepreneurship Fellowship (NEF).
They address different stages of the same challenge.
M’mawa Apprenticeship Programme: From Learning to Doing
The M’mawa Apprenticeship Programme (MAP) is our work-integrated learning pathway.
MAP bridges academic education and professional practice by placing young people in environments where they can apply what they are learning to real work.
Apprentices receive structured mentorship and practical exposure while contributing to projects across technology, entrepreneurship, communications, research, administration and innovation.
The objective is not simply to provide an internship.
It is to help young professionals understand how work actually happens: how problems are defined, how teams collaborate, how ideas become deliverables, how deadlines and accountability work, and how technical knowledge interacts with communication, leadership and professional judgement.
The programme traces its roots to the M’mawa Management Training Programme (MMTP) and has evolved as our own understanding of the education-to-work transition has evolved.
Today, MAP reflects a broader ambition: developing professionals who are not merely employable, but capable of thinking, building and leading within increasingly complex economies.
Nyenyezi Entrepreneurship Fellowship: From Ideas to Enterprise
For some young people, the next step is not employment. It is creation.
Established in 2020, the Nyenyezi Entrepreneurship Fellowship (NEF) supports aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators seeking to transform ideas into sustainable ventures.
Through mentorship, entrepreneurship training, business development support, practical project work and exposure to entrepreneurial ecosystems, fellows develop the skills required to move from identifying a problem to building something capable of solving it.
NEF places particular emphasis on innovation, leadership, problem-solving and value creation.
Participants are challenged to think beyond having a good idea. They must consider customers, markets, business models, execution, sustainability and ultimately the value their ventures can create for other people.
This distinction matters.
If MAP asks, “How do we prepare talented young people to contribute effectively within organisations and industries?”
NEF asks, “How do we prepare them to create the organisations and industries that should exist next?”
Together, the two programmes form complementary pathways within the Kwathu Upgrade.
Building the Bridge
Africa has no shortage of talented young people.
The harder systems question is whether that talent is consistently connected to the experiences, networks, mentorship, capital and opportunities required to translate potential into productive capability.
That bridge cannot be built by universities alone. Nor can it be built by employers, entrepreneurship programmes or governments acting independently.
It requires an ecosystem.
Our work through Kwathu Upgrade is one contribution to building that ecosystem: connecting education to experience, experience to opportunity, and ideas to enterprise.
The Distinctions earned by our MAP Cohort 5 graduates are worth celebrating in their own right. They represent years of academic work and individual discipline.
But we are equally excited about what comes after the certificates.
We want to see what these young people build, solve, lead and create next.
And we intend to keep building the systems that help them do it.
Meet MAP Cohort 5
Read the Kwathu Kollective’s full feature on Cohort 5 to meet the five graduates and learn more about the projects and practical experiences that shaped their apprenticeship.
Work With Us
The Ntha Foundation welcomes universities, companies, development partners, funders and practitioners interested in strengthening pathways between education, employment, entrepreneurship and innovation.
To explore opportunities to partner with or support the M’mawa Apprenticeship Programme, Nyenyezi Entrepreneurship Fellowship or other Kwathu Upgrade initiatives, connect with the Ntha Foundation and Kwathu Kollective.
