Germany gives Malawi K30bn development support
The German government has given Malawi 35 million euro (about K30 billion) to help improve the country’s health, education and agriculture sectors.
Speaking in an interview after signing the agreement in Lilongwe on Wesdnesday, German Ambassador Juergen Borsch said Germany is committed to continue helping the Malawi government meet its obligations to its citizens.
According to Borsch, 10 million euro is designated for the improvement of health care systems, reproductive health, and primary school programmes while 5 million euro is for the improvement of infrastructure and job creation in rural areas.
He said: “Germany has been one of the oldest and consistent provider of assistance to Malawi and we are very excited to help in changing Malawians’ lives for the better.”
In his remarks, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe said Germany started assisting Malawi as early as 1963.
“The country’s achievements continue to be obscured by some of the challenges that we face as a country. If you go to schools, children are sitting on the floor while in our hospitals services are not very good. Imagine a referral hospital like Kamuzu Central turning corridors into wards. This is not on, and the assistance you give us makes a huge difference,” said Gondwe.
The government of Malawi and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany successfully concluded official government to government negotiations on development cooperation which were held in Berlin last year.
Since the cooperation between Malawi and Germany started in 1963, Germany has supported Malawi with bilateral technical and financial cooperation amounting to over 1.1 billion euro. n
