Ministry of Mining and key stakeholders are optimistic that the establishment of the Mines and Minerals Regulatory Authority will help to streamline the sector to push the country into a lower middle-income economy by 2030.
The ministry’s acting director of mines and minerals Mphatso Chikoti said on Tuesday that with limited resources, they are making progress as the authority will unlock the sector’s fortunes.
He said some programmes and reforms to achieve the sector’s long-term objectives do not necessarily require financial resources.
Said Chikoti: “The establishment of the Mines and Mineral Authority, for instance, is a key milestone that will streamline operations on mineral rights administration, strengthen regulations and attract more investments in the sector.
“Shortly, a Malawi Mining Company will be established to undertake among others, in-depth exploration, joint ventures, act as State equity partner and mineral beneficiation under the Malawi Development Corporation Holdings Limited.”
He said the ministry is working with partners on capacity building, human resources development and technology, citing the recent block chain technology which it is implementing with support from United Nations Development Programme.
“We are also reconfiguring the cadastre system with support from the World Bank.
“This demonstrates our commitment to continuous improvement and we are optimistic that we will fully unlock the sector’s potential to achieve our GDP [gross domestic product] targets by 2030 and 2063,” said Chikoti.
In a separate interview on Tuesday, newly appointed Mines and Mineral Regulatory Authority director general Samuel Sakhuta said the authority will ensure policies are timely formulated without bureaucracy-induced delays from the ministry.
“This shows the right pace that we have taken collectively as a sector to ensure coordinated and quick decisions on policy issues, among others, like how to fix the artisanal small-scale miners which we believe is a sub-sector with great potential in the mining industry,” he said.
Mining along with agriculture and tourism under what is called ATM strategy, were earmarked to anchor the Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development plan, which targets attainment of middle income status by 2063, but analysts believe mining can play a key role to boost the economy.
National Planning Commission communications specialist Thom Khanje, in an interviw on Tuesday, said they expect the sector to contribute more than 15 percent to GDP by 2030 and even much stronger in 2063.
He said: “It doesn’t take many mining ventures to boost GDP. Remember Kayerekera alone increased mining contribution to GDP to 10 percent.
“So, a 15 percent target by 2030 is actually subdued, actual contribution should be higher.”
Khanje said the establishment of the Mines and Minerals Regulatory Authority and the mining company will ensure that Malawians have significant equity in the mining companies to reap more returns for the country beyond tax and loyalty benefits.
Geologist Ignatius Kamwanje said the mining sector is on course to meet its 2030 and 2063 targets because of the interest investors are showing to fast-track commencement of extraction.
“Of late, we have seen companies able to find off-takers as well as financing which means global investors are appreciating the quality of Malawi’s mineral deposits,” he said.
Before 2014, mining used to contribute about 10 percent to the country’s GDP, but the contribution has dropped to around one percent over the years.
