The Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST and Pacific Limited on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the private sector property developer constructing hostels to accommodate up to 3000 students.

In the MoU, Pacific Limited will source private land outside the university’s campus for the construction of the hostels and MUST is only required to ensure that the accommodation units meet standards in addition to help the company lobby government for some tax waivers towards the importation of construction materials.

According to Pacific Limited chairperson, Faizal Aboo, they have plans to construct hostels in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu but prioritised MUST because of the current pressing need for student accommodation.

“We want to construct the hostel in phases and the first phase could be ready by December this year. We believe that through this venture, we will be fulfilling our corporate social responsibilities,” Aboo said.

He said they noted that there is low participation of the private sector in university affairs in Malawi despite the various challenges universities are facing such as lack of accommodation space.

“Our plan is to build hostels across Malawi with around 40,000 bed spaces in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu. However, for us to do this, we need some waivers from government so that the units can be within the reach of most students, otherwise, the hostels could be too expensive for the majority of Malawian students. 

“For us, our estimation shows that around 60 percent of the construction cost will go towards taxes and if these were waived, the cost could drastically come down,” said Aboo, adding that the challenge with such waivers in Malawi is that they are at the discretion of the responsible principal secretary.

Pacific Limited said currently they have funding for the project available and they are ready to start works once they identify suitable land around MUST and would strive to cooperate with the authorities to meet the deadlines.

On his part, University Registrar, Alfred Chinombo, thanked Pacific Limited for considering MUST first in their hostel construction projects.

“The Board and management are aware and excited about this development. Hostel challenges have been at MUST since inception together with others like lack of adequate lab facilities, staff houses and teaching space. Govt has supported us on labs and teaching space but we are still struggling with student accommodation, especially due to the nature of our location,” he said.

He clarified that the MoU is not legally binding MUST to anything other than helping Pacific Limited to unlock government support in the project.

“Where we manage to secure waivers, for example, we will have a joint committee to ensure that the waivers only apply to materials for this particular project. We will also share with the developer student enrolment projections and demand for hostel accommodation for their planning,” added Chinombo.

MUST currently is very measured in its efforts to increase enrolment due to limitations on hostel space, and teaching and learning facilities.

“However, once the government-funded purpose-built lab construction project is finished and the two lecture theatres supported by the World Bank are completed, we will free up space and the availability of accommodation units from Pacific Limited will enable us to push up our enrolment numbers almost instantly,” he added.