I am delighted to have been nominated again at the Consumer Choice Awards Malawi 2026, this time in the category of the Most Inspiring Female Business Leader as founder and CEO of Q2 Systems. Last year, I was nominated as the Most Inspiring Female Corporate Leader, and we took it home. It was wonderful for the work of my non-profit, Ntha Foundation, to be recognized in that way.
Q2 is my newest and most ambitious bet yet – a company I established at the beginning of 2025, as I pursued my MBA studies at the Michigan State University.
About Q2 Systems
At Q2 Systems, we are building closed-loop autonomous infrastructure systems—integrating simulation, real-world deployment, and continuous learning into one adaptive ecosystem.
In simpler terms:
We design systems that learn from the world, act in the world, and improve over time.
From autonomous mobility through QTrax, to intelligent production systems like the Kwathu Smart Innovation Farms, our goal is to rethink how infrastructure is built—especially in environments where traditional systems have failed or never existed.
I deeply believe in a future of infrastructure which is not be retroffitted too late, but rather designed as autonomy-native from the start.
Successes Thus Far
This work has already begun to open doors—globally.
I was selected as a Detroit Tech Fellow, joining a new generation of founders building the future of industry and innovation in one of America’s most historically significant cities. Detroit to me is a statement about rebuilding, reinvention, and systems thinking.
I was also selected for the inaugural Big Bets Fellowship: Africa Fellowship, part of a global network focused on tackling large-scale challenges with bold, scalable ideas. I trust that this experience will sharpen how I think about markets, infrastructure, and what it actually takes to build solutions that endure.
These platforms allow us to test, build, and scale what Q2 Systems represents.
Beyond Me
This nomination is not just about me.
It is about:
- A different vision for global innovation that benefits Africa
- A belief that we can build globally relevant systems from our contexts
- A commitment to designing infrastructure that actually works for the environments it serves
I invite you to participate in that vision.
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Delve into Business and International Development with Nthanda Manduwi
Episode 5: Made in China | Lessons Weekly
Growing up in Malawi, the phrase “Made in China” suggested something cheap, something temporary, something that might break sooner than expected.
If a product was Made in China, it was often viewed as an inferior alternative to goods from Europe, America, or Japan. The label became a shorthand for low quality.
Looking back, that perception is remarkable.
Today, China is one of the most important industrial and technological powers in the world. Chinese companies compete directly with some of the most powerful firms on earth.
Huawei has become a global force in telecommunications and consumer technology. BYD has emerged as a serious competitor in electric vehicles. DJI dominates large segments of the global drone market. China leads in batteries, renewable energy manufacturing, and increasingly artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The country that was once associated with cheap manufacturing is now associated with industrial capability.
After reading Patrick McGee’s Apple in China, I found myself thinking less about Apple and more about how that transformation occurred.
While the book is presented as the story of Apple’s relationship with China, it is ultimately a story about development. More specifically, it is a story about how countries learn.
One of the book’s most important insights is that Apple did not simply use China. In many ways, Apple helped build China.
Conventional narratives often describe the relationship as one in which China provided cheap labour and manufacturing capacity while Apple captured the value through design and innovation. There is truth in that interpretation, but it is incomplete.
Listen to the full podcast, or read the full article via my blog byntha.com
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