H-BRS doctoral student meets presidents of Malawi and Germany

Doktorand Allex Semba trifft malawischen Präsident in Berlin

Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of Malawi, met with representatives of the Malawian diaspora in Germany during a state visit to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin at the end of August. Among them was H-BRS doctoral student Allex Semba, who is committed to enabling more people from his home country to study in Germany.

Allex Semba came to Sankt Augustin in 2021 on a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and began his Master's degree in Social Protection. Since then, he has been working as a founder and member of various initiatives to support people from his home country of Malawi. When severe flooding occurred in the East African country in 2022, the well-connected student supported a fundraising campaign for survivors of the disaster.

Semba is also active in the field of education: ‘At a meeting with other scholarship holders, I realised that there was only one other Malawian in the entire programme besides me. I therefore had the feeling that the DAAD programme was perhaps not so well known in my country and wanted to provide people there with information,’ he says. In cooperation with the Malawian embassy in Germany, the German Embassy in Malawi and the DAAD Regional Office for Southern Africa, he organised online meetings in which he informed prospective students about the opportunities to receive a scholarship in Germany. The interest was huge, with over 1,200 people taking part in the first information event.

Allex Semba during his presentation. Photo: State House Malawi

Meeting with the President in Berlin

The resulting contacts with the embassy gave Semba, now a doctoral student at H-BRS, the opportunity to win over the Malawian government for further initiatives between Germany and the African state. At the meeting with President Dr Lazarus Chakwera in Berlin's Hotel Adlon, he emphasised the great potential that German universities offer for prospective Malawian students: ‘Only eleven percent of school leavers in Malawi actually find a place in the public university system,’ says Semba.

At the moment, the only option for most of them is to study abroad in an English-speaking country. English is one of the official languages in the former British colony. ‘However, most people cannot afford to study in England. As a result, only higher earners can afford a good education. Germany has no tuition fees and could provide a solution to this problem,’ says the doctoral student. He therefore recommends that President Chakwera and his government teach German at school in order to offer future graduates better opportunities for higher education. ‘Education is a human right. Especially in a country as poor as Malawi, education can help open up new opportunities for people below the poverty line,’ says Semba.

“Education can help open up new opportunities for people below the poverty line,” says Semba. Photo: State House Malawi

The day after the presentation to Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, Allex Semba accompanied the Malawian delegation to Bellevue Palace for a meeting with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Relieving the burden of care work for women and girls

After successfully completing his degree, Semba is now in the first phase of his doctoral thesis at H-BRS. He is researching the extent to which social security systems in African countries can help to relieve women and girls of the burden of family care work: ‘When it comes to looking after persons with a disability, it is almost always women and girls who take on the care work. In many cases, they have to give up their education or career at a moment's notice,’ says Semba. One of the young researcher's credos is evident in his doctoral thesis: knowledge is the necessary basis for change.