Speakers

PROFILES OF PRESENTERS

1. George Ofori

Director of Research 

School of the Built Environment and Architecture at LSBU

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George Ofori is currently a Professor at the London South Bank University. He is Director of Research at the School of the Built Environment and Architecture at LSBU. He was formerly a Professor at the National University of Singapore. He is a Guest Chair Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He is also a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, UK; Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, UK, and Fellow of the Society of Project Managers, Singapore. He is a Member of the Board of Trustees of CoST – the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST).

George has authored many books, international referred journal papers, conference papers, book chapters and published reports. His main research areas are construction industry development, leadership in construction, and professionalism and ethics. His special interest in these areas lies in the improvement of the construction industries of developing countries. He was the Founding Co-ordinator of the CIB Working Commission 107 (W107) on Construction in Developing Countries of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) (1997 to 2007); and currently a Joint Co-ordinator of the CIB Task Group 95 on Professionalism and Ethics.

For nearly four decades, he has been a consultant to international development agencies (including Australia Aid, Department for International Development, UK, and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs); international organisations such as the International Labour Office, United Nations Human Settlements Programme and Commonwealth Secretariat); and governments. He has undertaken consultancy assignments in Malaysia, Bahrain, Botswana, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Singapore, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania.

2. Dr. Matthews Mtumbuka

Dr. Matthews is a seasoned private sector executive who rose all the way to the ranks of CEO and MD for local and international companies. Additionally, he has served on many Boards of Directors and currently serves on boards for NBS Bank, NICO Pension and chairs boards for NICO Technologies and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST).

For 17 years, Dr Mtumbuka worked for several global and local brands including Shell Exploration and Production Europe, NITEL(Malswitch), Helios and Airtel where he spent eight years. His career took him to Scotland, Rwanda, Kenya and native Malawi while remotely covering several (8 to 26) countries especially under Shell, Airtel and Ubuntunet.

3. Dickens P MAHWAYO

Dickens is a Published Researcher, an Environmentalist, a Marketer and a Conference Speaker. He has conducted several studies on Environment/Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, Population and the Built Industry, HIV/AIDS, Water and Food security just to mention a few. He has delivered several presentations at both local and international Conferences. Brazil and Mozambique being some of the countries where he has presented. Locally he has delivered his presentations at different conferences like National Energy Conferences, National Environmental Conference, Malawi Institution of Engineers Conferences, Surveyors Institute of Malawi Annual Conferences amongst many other different Conferences.

During the National Construction Industry Councils’(NCIC) Fourth International Construction Conference of July-August 2014, Dickens was the Award-winning Presenter after presenting a wonderful Paper.

4. Pilirani Tiwana

Pilirani Tiwana is a Quantity Surveyor at Blantyre Waterboard. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Quantity Surveying and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Infrastructure Development Management at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). In 2019, Pilirani published an article in the Malawi Journal of Applied Sciences. She is also an active member of the Surveyors Institute of Malawi (SIM). With a solid educational background and professional experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role.

5. Gracian Luzu

Gracian Luzu is a Legal Practitioner and Associate at a leading commercial law firm, Ritz Attorneys at Law. During his short private practice, Gracian has gained extensive experience in litigation, commercial and corporate law practice, syndicated financing and construction law, among others. Gracian’s work has included advising clients on regulatory compliance company re-organizations, Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) advisory.

Gracian is a graduate of the University of Malawi. He graduated with distinction in the dissertation work. Gracian has attended several post-graduate trainings and workshops in construction law, refugee law and in academic research on international economic law affecting Africa. Gracian is a regular patron/attendee of the biggest construction exhibition and symposium in Southern Africa called the Big-5 Construction Law Southern Africa. He also attended a training on refugee and statelessness law with the University of Cape Town (offered in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), and is a Regional Representative of the Afronomicslaw Southern Africa—an academic engagement forum for various economic law issues affecting Africa.

Gracian has advised a number of notable local and international clients on, communications, labour and other areas of law. Some of the clients include Google Inc, Apple Inc, Premier League, The Green Energy for People and Planet (GEAPP) of the David Rockefeller Foundation and Shoprite Limited.

Gracian was admitted to the Malawi Bar in 2022. He is an advocate of the High Court of Malawi; the Supreme Court of Appeal and all courts subordinate thereto.

7. Mr. William Mpinganjira

Mr. William Mpinganjira is a seasoned banker with more than 11 years’ experience in the Banking and Financial Industry with international exposure in London. William worked as Deputy Managing Director for FDH Bank for three years and was acting Managing Director for the Bank in 2019. William has worked in top management positions with FDH Bank Plc and the FDH Financial Holdings Group. He has vast skills in Credit Analysis, Risk Management, Strategy Development and Implementation.
William holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting obtained from the London South Bank University, United Kingdom, a Master of International Business Degree from Grenoble Graduate School of Business, France and Master of Banking and Finance Degree from Bangor Business School, Wales.
Furthermore, William is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (FCCA), a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi (ICAM) and a Chartered Banker with the Chartered Banker Institute. He has also completed an Executive Development Programme (EDP) at the University of Stellenbosch Graduate Business School, South Africa, and is an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School and London Business School having completed Leadership programs.

8. Emifa Mbewe

Emifa Mbewe is a motivated civil engineer who is passionate about water resources management, shared water courses and environmental issues. She has successfully managed and implemented various projects, including dam construction, water supply systems and flood control systems. Emifa holds a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering- Water (Hons) and possess expertise in hydrological and hydraulic analysis, project management with certification in Drone and Data Technology, Embankment Dam Engineering and Safety obtained at Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) and African Training Institute (ATI) in South Africa respectively.

9. Malik Abubakari

Malik Abubakari is a leadership-oriented individual with a profound passion for education, business, and societal transformation. Malik is committed to promoting personal and national interests. He possesses experience in construction processes, research, project monitoring and evaluation, health and safety management, sustainable energy systems, and community leadership engagement. He is currently pursuing an MSc. in Infrastructure Development and Management at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). He holds a BSc. in Quantity Surveying and Construction Economics from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana.

Professionally, Malik is a Staff Associate at MUBAS and the Programs Manager at Green Drops Foundation. His previous roles included project monitoring officer at the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GetFund), Assistant quantity surveyor at Architectural and Quantity Surveying Consortium Limited-Ghana, and Architectural and Engineering Service Limited (AESL)-Ghana. He has presented at prominent conferences, including the 1st Annual School of Engineering Conference at MUBAS and the 10th International Conference on Development and Investment in Infrastructure in Zambia. His achievements and awards include being a Cohort (2) Scholar in the Africa Sustainable Infrastructure Mobility program (2022). In 2021, Malik was selected as a delegate at the World Bank Youth Summit in Washington, D.C. and a Mastercard Foundation Scholarship alumnus at KNUST.

10. Melusi Ndwandwe

Melusi Ndwandwe is an MSc in Infrastructure Development and Management (MIDM) student under the Africa Sustainable Infrastructure Mobility (ASIM) program and a staff associate at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). His research interests are in the areas of sustainable construction, construction digitalization, project management, urban planning, and transit-oriented development (TOD). His ongoing thesis project investigates the implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the Malawian construction industry. He has presented at a notable number of local and international conferences, including the 3^rd Annual Conference of the Malawi Engineering Institute (MEI) and the 10^th International Conference on Development and Investment in Infrastructure (DII) in Zambia.

He holds a BEng Tech in Civil Engineering and a BSc (Honors) in Construction Management from the University of Johannesburg, where he was a National Research Foundation (NRF) scholar. He is a South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) member. Prior to pursuing his MSc, he worked as a researcher at Moses Kotane Institute (MKI).

11. Architect Dorthy Nyong’onya

Architect Dorthy Nyong’onya is an experienced and versatile architectural professional with a unique blend of experience in both private and public sector. She has a proven track record in championing the development and implementation of quality assurance and compliance programs in the construction industry. With 18 years’ experience in the construction industry, she has worked with contractors, consultants and regulatory institutions in different capacities hence acquiring extensive knowledge in regulatory compliance, architectural design, contract management and project management. Holding a Master’s degree in Project Management from Bolton University and registration as a Professional Architect with the Board of Architects and Quantity Surveyors, she possesses an exceptional combination of technical expertise and management acumen. She is a certified arbitrator with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK and also a Council member for the Malawi Institute of Architects.

12. Dr Innocent Kafodya

Dr Innocent Kafodya – He is the Head of Civil Engineering Department at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. He is an Associate Professor in Structures and Materials. Holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of Johannesburg, South Africa (2017-2019). He received a Master of Science Degree in Structural Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology, China (2012-2014).

He has been a Co-I in the development of Seismic Risk assessment tools for buildings in Malawi, in collaboration with University of Bristol under PREPARE and SAFER PREPARED projects. He has been a research fellow on developing and testing low-cost cementitious construction materials for possible application in the construction industry in Malawi with Cardiff University. Has been a technical expert in the Comprehensive Multi Hazard risk Assessment Project in Malawi. Has a track record of 30 scholarly publications in various elite international journals

13. Nema Kadaluka

Nema is a Professional Project Manager (PMP). She has over 10 years’ experience in leadership in the built environment working with the local government, central government and parastatals. She has a MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland. Over the years Nema has attained vast experience of governance in the Built Environment. She is a certified arbitrator with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, U.K. She is currently a member of the potential PMI Malawi Chapter.