The High Commissioner’s Bio
Her Excellency, Stella Chiripo Ndau
Her Excellency Stella Chiripo Hauya Ndau is the High Commissioner of the Republic of Malawi to the Republic of South Africa. She was appointed High Commissioner in June 2021 by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Malawi, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.
Stella Hauya Ndau is an accomplished Malawian diplomat and academic, having previously served as Malawi’s High Commissioner Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, and Mauritius with residence in Pretoria between 2012 and 2015.
Under her leadership, she strengthened Malawi’s trade links with the four countries and forged new strategic partnerships in sectors such as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), mining and energy, which are key to Malawi’s growth and development, and the realisation of the country’s long-term development vision, Malawi Vision 2063.
Stella Hauya Ndau also served as Chairperson of the Board of Directors for Small Enterprise Development Organization of Malawi (SEDOM), guiding functions of the Malawi Government entity on capacity building, training, research, and support for SMEs to generate employment, strengthen value chains, and develop markets in support of Malawi’s economic development. She has also served in various boards including boards for non-governmental organisations, private schools, and churches.
Prior to her initial appointment as High Commissioner, Stella Hauya Ndau served in top leadership and management positions in the University of Malawi as Deputy Dean, overseeing the work of six departments: and as Head of Department in the university’s Faculty of Humanities.
Her experience as a lecturer and researcher at the university spans over 20 years since 1997, during which she has extensively conducted research in the fields of strategic communication, public relations, academic literacy, and development communication, in addition to contributing towards development and execution of university programmes; and facilitating capacity building for different institutions.
Her Excellency, Stella Chiripo Ndau
Malawi High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa
She also served as a researcher and supervisor for Theatre for Development under the USAID-funded Girls Attainment in Basic Literacy and Education Project (GABLE), coordinating all its theatre for development activities, and conducting research in 26 districts of Malawi.
Stella Hauya Ndau holds a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching) from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom (2001); and a Bachelor of Arts Humanities from the University of Malawi (1997).