Logistics

This page contains information on the logistics of the Symposium.

Dates

The SMART Symposium will take place from Tuesday 13th November up to Friday 16th November. The Friday is optional and will consist of field visits to entrepreneurs as well as users of SMARTechs.

The program of each day starts at 08.30 and finishes at 17.00 with a lunch break around 12:30 – 13:30. Lunch and refreshments will be provided for.

Transport Lilongwe Airport –> Mzuzu and back

For those arriving through Lilongwe Airport a shuttle bus is available with the following time table:

Route Date Time of departure Time of arrival (estimate)
Lilongwe Airport à Mzuzu Monday 12 Nov ± 14:30[1] ± 19:30
Lilongwe Airport à Mzuzu Monday 12 Nov ± 16:30[2] ± 20:30
Mzuzu à Lilongwe Airport Friday 16 Nov 06:00 ± 11:00
Mzuzu à Lilongwe Airport Saturday 17 Nov 05:00 ± 09:30
Mzuzu à Lilongwe Airport Saturday 17 Nov 06:00 ± 11:00

[1] Departure time from Lilongwe will depend on whether all participants have arrived and obtained a visa. As most flights arrive between 12:00 and 14:00, the estimated departure time is 14:30.

[2] The second shuttle will leave on Monday for those who arrive after 14:30.

For a one way trip there is a fee of 40 euro, for a return trip there is a fee of 70 euro. These fees have been included in the invoice for those who indicated using the shuttle. For those who did not indicate yet, please inform us asap through reinier@smartcentremalawi.com.

A staff member of the SMART Centre will be present at the airport upon arrival to guide you with the purchase of a sim card as well as locating the ATM and any other logistics needed.

For those arriving on the morning flight with Ethiopian, there is a restaurant on the panorama deck of the airport where you can stay until the shuttle leaves. This can be reached through the stairs in the arrival hall. There is free internet available at the airport through the Skyband hotspot.

Visa

Please check whether you need a visa through the website of the Immigration Department of Malawi. A letter of invitation can be issued, if needed.

Countries that need a visa in advance for Malawi

Countries whose nationals are exempted

Generally the visa can be obtained upon arrival at Lilongwe Airport. The visa fee is $75 or 80 Euro and can also be paid through Credit Card.

Payment

All participants who have registered have received an invoice with an overview of the conference fees as well as the fee for the use of the shuttle service (if applicable). Please pay the invoice in advance. Questions on the invoice or payment can be send to reinier@smartcentremalawi.com.

There are several ATM’s in at the Airport in Lilongwe as well as in Mzuzu, accepting Visa or Mastercard. Also there is a forex bureau at the Shoprite Complex, which is about 500m from the Symposium Venue.

Location and accomodation

The SMART Symposium will take place at the ‘Mphatso Motel’, located along the M1 in Mzuzu. The Mphatso Motel can be reached through +2651334205 or +265882571063 (Aaron Makwakwa, Manager) if you want to make a booking.

The Motel offers a variety of rooms in the range of 12 – 20 euro, which can be booked either directly or through the SMART Centre.
For those who indicated the preference to book through SMART Centre, the rooms have been reserved. The SMART Centre has advanced the payment of the room for those participants. Payment back to the SMART Centre can be made upon arrival in either Malawi Kwacha, USD or Euro.

The location can be found through the following link: Location Mphatso Motel, Mzuzu

Registration

Registration will take place on Tuesday morning, the 13th of November from 08.00 – 08:30 at the venue.

Internet Access

There will be Wi-Fi available at the conference venue, through the use of ‘Skyband Hotspots’. Alternatively a local sim-card can be bought upon arrival at the airport from Airtel or TNM (the two main providers) with which a data bundle can be bought.

Contacts

The following persons can be contacted with regard to conference logistics or general questions.

Reinier Veldman – Centre Manager, CCAP SMART Centre
reinier@smartcentremalawi.com
+265996090132 (also WhatsApp)

Linguist V. Chimaliro – Procurement Officer, CCAP SMART Centre
+265996376115 / +265888323651

Andrew Kamanga – Transport Officer for SMART Symposium
+265995995378 / +265888726593

Henk Holtslag – SMART Centre Group
henkholtslag49@gmail.com
+31642559870 (also WhatsApp)

Reinier VeldmanLogistics