Introduction

The Career Starter Week (CSW) held in June 2026 at the University of Lusaka (UNILUS) delivered a high-impact platform for developing future-ready talent in Zambia. The program successfully connected academic learning with practical, market-relevant skills, creating measurable value for students, partners, and the broader ecosystem.

Participants demonstrated exceptional levels of engagement, motivation, and ownership of their personal development. Their strong interest in digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and employability highlights a generation that is ready to actively contribute to economic growth and transformation.

The program’s approach – combining business case work, interview training, and direct exposure to industry professionals – enabled students to build critical competencies in communication, problem-solving, and professional readiness. A noticeable increase in self-confidence and clarity of career direction was observed across cohorts in both weeks.

Guest speakers and industry inputs were particularly valued by participants, reinforcing the importance of real-world perspectives and local relevance.

The program also demonstrated the strength of collaboration between international expertise and local institutions. UNILUS provides a solid operational foundation, while the CSW format ensures structured, scalable, and impactful delivery.

In summary, CSW June 2026 confirms the program’s potential as a strategic partnership platform – combining talent development, brand positioning, and social impact.

UNILUS Campus Silver Rest

We received excellent support from UNILUS staff during both weeks, both in technical and administrative matters. The new Silver Rest Campus is almost completed. Currently, a large chapel is still under construction.

Highlights

Both weeks had gender-balanced groups, with especially young women motivated to succeed in a challenging labor market. All students were highly motivated to contribute to the future of their country. The joy, energy, and enthusiasm of both groups were impressive. Teamwork within the groups functioned immediately. In both weeks, we observed several very positive examples of mutual support and assistance with both small and larger challenges and issues. Students treated each other with respect and consideration and supported one another. A strong team spirit developed very quickly. Self-confidence levels increased from Monday to Friday. Students mentioned their passion for sports, cooking and baking, as well as IT and reading.

The importance of sustainability and voluntary work was mentioned several times by the students.

It was particularly striking and impressive that several students had already started their own businesses in areas such as marketing, communication, multimedia, and fashion/styling. This meant that we were not only working with “students,” but also with CEOs, founders, and business owners. We are convinced that this trend will become even stronger in future CSW editions.

Students showed a strong interest in digital topics and AI (all business case presentations included a strong digital component). All groups used AI tools in a highly creative manner to prepare their business cases.

As part of the Business Case Presentation, students independently developed innovative business ideas with a clear eye on the future. The presented examples included:

• A platform where producers from agriculture and industry can network with transporters to optimally match supply and demand for transport capacity – helping reduce road transport due to empty trucks.

• 'EduConnect' is a digital solution that allows parents of students up to grade 12 to find private tutors and make individualized arrangements for each student.

• A Multimedia House offers small and medium-sized enterprises professional support for their web presence, provides infrastructure for web creators, promotes in-house content creation, and offers training sessions, such as responsible use of the internet for the young or website design.

At the end of each week, Monday's “Hopes and Goals for the Week” were compared to the goals accomplished. A high level of alignment was observed.

Transitioning from theory to practice

Right after completing interview training in the second week, one student was invited to attend an actual interview the next day. She had applied a few days earlier for a staff position in parliament. As she had used her real case during the training session, she was able to attend the interview very well prepared. Her excitement about receiving the interview invitation made a strong impression on the entire class and further motivated them to invest even more time in their applications, as the training directly translated into real outcomes.