Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc has donated 150 million kwacha to Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) towards the university’s Endowment Fund.
Speaking during the official presentation of the donation at the university today Illovo Human Resources Director Khumbo Banda said the company decided to donate the money due to the sustainability of the strategy, in which the principal is continually preserved and only a proportion of the yield is spent.
According to Banda, the donation is meant for girls pursuing science courses as they noted gaps between male and female students in sciences.
She said: “Most of the times we are asked to help specific students but you sponsor one and it ends there. This endowment fund is sustainable in that it sponsors more than one student over a long period of time. This is why we got interested in this project, particularly focusing on female students. “
Must vice-chancellor Professor Address Malata expressed gratitude for the donation which she says will go a long way towards helping needy students at the university.
“We are delighted with the gesture shown by Illovo. We don’t want to see any student dropping out of school. As you know, with an endowment fund, you only use the profit you get after investment. So, the principal will always be there for years to come. We are appealing to the corporate world to emulate the gesture shown by Illovo Sugar,” she said.
Must Endowment Fund (Mef) which, according to Malata, is the first of its kind in Malawi, was introduced last year.
