CRA-Malawi

Mr. Chris Chaima Banda - Director General

Mr. Chris Chaima Banda has served in the British Civil Service for around two decades in senior policy, programme development/management, and strategic leadership roles in both central and local government systems. Over the years, he has served as Senior Policy Analyst for the Local Government Policy Unit, Director of Corporate Policy and Strategy, Head of Policy for Adult Education and Community Engagement, Head of Policy for Children and Young People’s Services at the Royal London Borough of Greenwich, and as Strategic Lead for Workforce Development and Reform in the Department for Education and Schools
Chris worked as Marketing and Recruitment Manager for Greenwich Training, the largest government agency for work-based learning in South East London.Prior to returning home in 2020, Chris spent four years in the Ministry of Justice in Birmingham, West Midlands, in the Office of the Public Guardian, where he served as Deputy Head of the Power of Attorney Processing Department.
Chris served as a Senior Investment Economist with the China Council for the International Trade Office in London.
He worked on a joint project between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Soweto Foundation in South Africa as a Human Capital Development Specialist.
Chris started his international career with the Finnish Refugee Council in Malawi, where he served as the Programme Coordinator for its refugee support projects.
Chris has worked on investment consultancy projects in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Israel.
He also worked as Consulting Director of Youth Policy Development for the London Borough of Sutton between 2009 and 2010.
Chris has served on the boards of Corporate Gold Limited in Nigeria as its Director of International Operations, the Austrian-based Geosat Resource Development Limited, and Paradigm Mining and Trading Limited, with main offices in Dubai and operational interests in Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda.
Chris is the founder of Gold Export Solutions Limited, a multi-sectoral interest company with interests in defense, security, ballistics, mining, and mineral logistics.Chris is academically accomplished. He holds two Master of Science degrees (MSc) from the Open University in London. His first MSc was obtained in 2004 in Development Management, specialising in Institutional Development and Reform. His second MSc was obtained in 2017 in Social Policy Development in the Digital Economy (through a Master Class programme between the Open University and the British Government – a civil service senior leadership development programme).Chris graduated from the University of Malawi (Chancellor College, Zomba) with a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree (BSocSc 1992) in Economics and Human Resources.He holds two Postgraduate Diplomas: in Marketing (CIM London 1999) and in Institutional Systems Management from the Open University (London 2002)Chris was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Nigeria from General Ibrahim Babangida University in Niger State in 2012 for impactful service to Northern Nigeria.

Chris has been awarded numerous academic and training certificates in the following specialist areas:

· Certificate in Education Systems Management
· Using ICT innovatively with interactive whiteboards in schools
· Freedom of Information in the context of educational frameworks and data
· Leadership Certificate in Managing Age Diversity in employment and education settings
· Certificate in Effective Improvement Management for staff working in education settings
· Certificate in ICT and the Future
· Certificate in School and College Inspection Framework Skills by Ofsted
· Certificate in Setting Smart Priorities for Educational Outcomes in Colleges and Schools
Chris served as President of the Students Union of Chancellor College (SUCC) between 1991 and 1992.