The Ministry of Education has launched an accommodation project for public universities that is projected to benefit 4700 students in the initial phase.

The project follows after a four year delay, when the Public Private Partnership (PPP) signed contracts with M & M Consortium and Old Mutual plc. Moving forward, Old Mutual plc group chief executive officer Edith Jiya confirmed that the firm will construct hostels for College of Medicine Lilongwe and Blantyre campuses as well as for the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar)

According to the Education Minister, Agnes NyaLonje, the project has been attributed to the government’s commitment to solving students’ accommodation challenges. “Students should expect high-quality accommodation of international standards that will gradually extend to all public universities” she said.

In 2016, the PPPC signed contracts with M & M Consortium and Old Mutual plc worth $425 million to construct student accommodation hostels with 20 280 beds for Luanar, College of Medicine, Chancellor College, Mzuzu University, Malawi University of Science and Technology and The Polytechnic. On the other hand, students hoped that the process of splitting the University of Malawi (UNIMA) into five separate institutions, promised improved efficiency and better student services.