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Address to the International University of Management
Academic Commencement
10 February 2020
Delivered by DBN CEO Martin Inkumbi
2020 IUM Commencement
Director of Students, Mr. Aquilinus T. Nashilundo, Registrar of IUM
Honorable Prof. David R. Namwandi, Founder & Chairman of IUM
Prof. Oladele O. Arowolo, Acting Vice-Chancellor and Pro Vice-Chancellor: Academic Affairs & Research
Dr. Vistorina Ndemuweda, Dean of Students
Pastor Adriaan Du Plessis, Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, Khomasdal
Mr. Lloyd Sikeba, SRC President 2020
Members of faculties in attendance
Students of IUM
I am pleased to be able to address you at the commencement of your academic year. My responsibility in making this address is to motivate you for this year and – I hope – provide you with ideas that give value to you for years to come, as you enter the employment market.
Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
Thank you for listening.
I understand that your year will be full of formal academic language, but I will address you in practical terms.
Learning is the purest form of empowerment. It gives you the knowledge and understanding that you need to become productive for the economy and an earner to support yourself in pursuit of personal goals. At the end of your studies you will be qualified to participate in the professional field, which you have chosen.
However that qualification will not be enough to sustain you in the long-term.
The knowledge that you absorb now in your formal studies will change as the years ahead of you pass by.
- New methodologies will be brought to light.
- New practices will be implemented.
- Innovation will change the shape of operations and technologies.
You need to be able to stay abreast of knowledge for the decades that lie ahead, and that must begin today.
Supplement your formal studies with your own investigation and learning. Find out about emerging methodologies, practices and innovation.
Where possible attend public talks, register for short courses and explore online.
If you can formally claim attendance of short courses on your CV and discuss what you know in job interviews, this will potentially attract the interest of recruiters and their interviewers. It will also make you a better contributor in the workplace.
Most importantly, those of you who are observant will have noticed the rise of artificial intelligence and computerised processes. This has a massive impact on the future of the job market. Locally, Banks are cutting back on jobs as they automate. Internationally, more and more companies are computerising their operations. In fact, there are investment houses that run their entire end-to-end operations using artificial intelligence to do everything from electronic reception to making investment decisions to providing investment consulting.
Learn as much as you can about artificial intelligence and computing. Those who are able to operate in a highly automated environment will be those who are most prized in the workplace.
A rich diversity of knowledge will enrich your skill set and enhance your opportunities.
As many of you will have experienced, the job market is not accommodating many graduates, even limiting opportunities for interns. In addition to this the practice of permanent employment is declining as employers offer contracts for the duration of their needs.
The shrinking market for permanent employment is a global trend. No matter how accomplished or learned, some of you will have difficulty finding employment simply due to the fact that job opportunities are scarce.
This is a challenge which can be overcome with entrepreneurship.
At its root entrepreneurship is concerned with self-sufficiency. If you apply the practices of entrepreneurship wisely, you will not need to seek employment. You will provide for yourself. Then you will begin to grow. Then you will be need to create employment and you will grow even more.
Your current courses equip you with the knowledge to become managers, but at the root of management there is the component of administration. Consistent, good administration is what the Development Bank seeks in the entrepreneurs who borrow from it as this is a key predictor of success.
Good administration involves
- planning,
- implementation of those plans
- and administration to ensure that the plans stay on track.
I encourage you to remember that. Use what you learn now and it will aid your success.
The next question you need to ask yourselves is, as a manager, what will you manage?
Management administers a process that creates outcomes.
- What are the outcomes that you can create?
- Who will need or want the products and services and how much will they be prepared to pay?
Once you have the answers to these fundamental marketing questions you have the basis to begin your journey into entrepreneurship.
As a point of interest, I also encourage you to seek partnerships, particularly with individuals who are skilled in their activities but who lack business skills.
In the experience of DBN there are many skilled managers and many people who are skilled in their vocational or productive fields, but there are very few who possess both sets of skills. The pairing of administrative capabilities and technical skills is a further predictor of success. Not only will both parties benefit from one another’s knowledge and capabilities, but it will spread the risk.
Use your status as students to set up small businesses that you can operate affordably now, while you study.
These small businesses will offer you the opportunity to learn, and if you can operate them with relatively low amounts of borrowing, they will be relatively free of risk.
Seek opportunities to serve as well.
Offer assistance and your knowledge on a volunteer basis to community organisations and bodies. If you can gain the experience in a formal organisation or body, you can demonstrate to potential employers that you have experience in a working environment. Your commitment to social betterment will be of note to employers, who increasingly associate themselves with corporate social initiatives.
And, in addition, you will have the very valuable opportunity to extend your network.
I hope in future, that the Bank will hear from you, that you seek finance for enterprises that you have begun to build in this and coming years. For those of you seeking professional certification, DBN provides finance for young professionals with NQF5 and higher. More details of this are available on our website.
Your future begins now.
I will not wish you luck.
Instead I will wish you the power to be persistent and to empower yourselves with knowledge.
Carpe diem.
Seize the day.
Thank you.