Cavendish University thinks big

CAVENDISH University Zambia will invest over US$20 million in the construction of a unified campus in Lusaka to equip graduates with skills that respond to industry current needs.

Vice-Chancellor Welani Chilengwe said the land for the unified university has already been identified next to Levy Mwanawasa Hospital and the institution was just waiting for the contract to be prepared by lawyers.

“We are promising to offer an innovative and transformative excellent education through the unified university,” he said.

He said the university had also acquired land in Kafue to establish a school of agriculture, forestry and environmental studies to help the country grow the economy through agriculture.

Dr Chilengwe said the modern school of agriculture would be offering studies similar to what was required in the developed world.

He said this after the Zambia Development Agency board chairperson, Bishop David Masupa and management team toured the university campus as part of the ongoing industrial tours to understand the challenges and opportunities of the private sector on Wednesday.

Dr Chilengwe said the university was promoting entrepreneurship among students so that once they graduate they should not be dependent on being employed but be self-employed.

“We want to contribute to the country continuing to be food secure,” he said.

Bishop Masupa said the visit was meant to assess the progress made by enterprises in relation to the pledges made and also appreciate the challenges that might require interventions by the ZDA and other stakeholders.

Meanwhile, he noted that the university applied for renewal of investment with re-investment pledged at over K1.8 million and additional creation of 125 jobs.

“Our interest is to ensure enhanced levels of actualisation of investments, jobs and the local business development programme. The agency is willing to hand-hold investors through aftercare services to facilitate investment,” Bishop Masupa said.