UK Visit For Malawian Partners

Students from a Malawi business school visited the UK in August to get to know colleagues at their partner institution, the University of Derby, a little better.

The six students from the Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) are on the MSc Strategic Management course, for which they are awarded a University of Derbydegree on graduation. They were invited to spend a week in Derby(in the East Midlands of the UK), experiencing the city's culture and gaining an understanding of UKbusiness.

Claire Bylo - Faculty Manager for Business, Computing and Law - said: “Our lecturers travel to the Malawi Institute to deliver high quality teaching, however we wanted to strengthen our relationship with these students by inviting them to Derby.

“We hope that they will be able to take what they've learned about the UK's industrial and economic climate back to their studies and businesses.”

As well as being shown around the University's campuses in Derbyand Buxton, the visitors learnt about the city's history and industrial heritage on guided tours of Derby Silk Mill and Derby Museum. They were given talks at Derby and Nottingham Chamber of Trade and Commerce, and HSBC's Commercial Centre on Pride Park, where they met Derbygraduate Charlotte Wilson who is on its management trainee scheme.

One of the visitors, Steve Chapola, who studies while working in a management position at the Malawi Social Action Fund, said: “The talk at HSBC was a very interesting aspect of the visit, which I greatly enjoyed.”

Mahafuzur Mannan, 27, uses the skills he gains on the MSc programme to improve his family's food produce business.

He said: “Derby's a very nice and pleasant place, I hope to come back for our graduation ceremony in January and see a little more of the area.”

For more information about the University of Derby and its partner organisations including the Malawi Institute of Management (MIM), visit website www.derby.ac.uk/partnerships