Chakwera reiterates patience plea
President Lazarus Chakwera has reiterated his plea for patience among Malawians as the nine-political-party Tonse Alliance administration he leads lays the foundation for building a new Malawi.
The President said this on Thursday at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences Sports Complex in Blantyre, formerly College of Medicine as a constituent college of the University of Malawi, after inaugurating the National Data Centre.
He said: “Building takes time and in phases. To build something better, there is need for patience.”
Chakwera’s sentiments come amid concerns from Malawians on the high cost of living and other challenges that have come during the reign of the new administration, largely worsened by global trends, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has disrupted supply chains.
But the President said it is important for Malawians to exercise patience as government is keen on improving people’s lives contrary to assertions by his administration’s critics.
Commenting on the National Data Centre project, Chakwera said the facility demonstrated that Malawi is rising.
He said: “It just goes to prove that Malawi is rising. This is top-notch technology and I am so happy that we can move towards Malawi 2063 [MW2063] with digitalisation as the main driver.”
The prefab r icated National Data Centre was constructed by Huawei Technologies and, among others, will store and process data for public institutions as well as interested private sector companies.
The data centre was established as a component of the national fibre backbone project being implemented by Huawei Technologies in partnership with utility firm Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom). The utility firm will be managing the data centre.
Chakwera said the setting up of the data centre will give confidence to investors to invest in the country while feeling secure that their data will be secured.
In his speech, Huawei Technologies Southern African Region president Leo Chen said the data centre shows the Malawi Government’s commitment in moving towards a digital economy.
He said: “In many countries, digitalisation is an enabling component of development and at Huawei [Technologies], we are proud to be part of this digital transformation. Innovation is part of our DNA.”
Chen also thanked the government for supporting Huawei Technologies through its projects in Malawi aimed at digital transformation, among others.
In his speech, Escom board chairperson Frederick Changaya said the data centre will help Malawi compete favourably with other countries.
On his part, Minister of Information and Digitisation Gospel Kazako said the data centre will improve service delivery for ministries, departments and agencies that will be storing their data at the facility.
