Monday, June 6, 2016

Rachel Sibande and Madalitso Chidumu named Malawi delegates at Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2016 in US: Obama to host


nyasatimes.com


The Embassy of the United States of America has announced that Rachel Sibande and Madalitso Chidumu , will be Malawi delegates at the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit ), which will take place June 22-24, 2016 in Palo Alto, California to be hosted by President Barack Obama.

They will be joining more than 700 entrepreneurs from around the world along with investors, speakers, and leaders in the entrepreneurship space.

These innovative entrepreneurs will be joined by high-level U.S. Government officials, including President Obama, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Administrator of the Small Business Administration Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator of USAID Gayle Smith, Ambassador at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Catherine Russell, and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel.

This Summit will be the 7th installment in a series previously hosted by the United States and the governments of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Morocco, and Kenya.

In bringing the Summit back to the United States, President Obama highlights his commitment to building bridges that help us tackle global challenges together.

Bio information on Malawi’s two participants in the GES:

Rachel Sibande is CEO and Founder of Malawi’s first technology hub and incubator space; mHub. The hub nurtures, mentors and incubates young technology entrepreneurs.

Image from article, with caption: Rachel Sibande the Malawian super techwoman

In 2015, Rachel received a prestigious award from GOOGLE as one of the most outstanding Computer Science Students in the world. In March 2016; Rachel received yet another prestigious award from the Next Einstein Fellows Initiative as one of Africa’s Next Einstein.

She is reading for a PhD in computer science at Rhodes University in South Africa. Rachel believes that the future of Malawi and Africa is in its youth.

Sibande is passionate about building a generation of critical thinkers and entrepreneurs. She has since established two initiatives within the hub; “Girls for Code” and “Children’s Coding club”. Through these initiatives; girls and children are taught how to develop technology applications in a quest to enhance participation in science and technology.

Through the hub; over 2,000 young people have been trained in technology and entrepreneurship and still counting. The hub incubates 8 startups and has a membership of 104 technology enthusiasts, innovators and entrepreneurs. Not even the sky is the limit for this 30 year old mother of three in breaking the ceilings in the technology and business space.

Madalitso Chidumu participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders in 2015. She is currently working with NASFAM as the Global Poverty Action Fund Coordinator and is the founder and director of a social enterprise called IMPACT that incubates agribusinesses and promotes solar energy.

Chidumu image from article

Madalitso is also a Global Youth Ambassador for A World at School. She believes in the power of youth, especially women, in the transformation of Malawi as nation.

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