What was touted as a game-changing $6.8 billion (about K10.3 trillion) deal from Bridgin Foundation appears to have turned into a nightmare for the Malawi Government, which has silently taken over financing of some projects.
Malawi and Bridgin signed the multi-billion dollar deal on November 28 2022 at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe. Former minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sosten Gwengwe signed on behalf of Malawi.
But three years later, both Capital Hill and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (Ruforum), which facilitated the deal, are not forthcoming with updates on the deal.
This has prompted accountability and governance pundits to tell Malawians that they can as well forget about the deal.
Under the deal, Bridgin was supposed to finance construction of high-tech fertiliser manufacturing plant in Lilongwe at $750 million (about K1.3 trillion), $591 million (about K 1.02 trillion) Geology Centre at Mzuzu University (Mzuni), $158 million (about K276.6 billion) high-tech lab at Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) and $230 million (about K 403 billion) twin-tower at Capital Hill.
Other projects included Inkosi ya Makhosi M’Mbelwa University in Mzimba at $480 million (about K 840.4 billion), power plants to generate 1 000 megawatts (MW) at $3.3 billion (about K5.7 trillion), and modern teaching hospital in Chileka, Blantyre worth $1 billion (about K 1.7 trillion).
However, The Nation sources at moved on the geology centre while in the case of M’Mbelwa University, Secretary for Higher Education Levi Eneya is on record as having said that government had allocated K2 billion in the 2025/26 fiscal year from its own coffers.
In Lilongwe, construction of the twin-towers at Capital Hill is yet to start, but there was a call for firms to provide detailed designs, tender documentation and supervision services for the project in November 2023.
On the modern teaching hospital, Ministry of Health spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe yesterday said he needed to cross-check the status with the Building Department.
However, by press time at 9pm last night, he was yet to respond.
Reacting to the development, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira said it was sad that despite being celebrated as a transformative opportunity for the nation’s infrastructure and development, details on the progress have been unavailable.
He said: “This raises concerns about the deal’s legitimacy and execution. It is now clear that despite the fanfare Malawians were cheated on the deal.”
In a separate interview, public finance and expenditure tracking analyst Mavuto Bamusi argued that silence on the Bridgin deal is confirmation that it was a scheme to defraud Malawians, adding that it is clear no due diligence and risk assessment was done.
During the signing ceremony, President Lazarus Chakwera indicated that all the seven projects would be completed within four years, which is next year.
When contacted yesterday, presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, which signed the deal on behalf of government, was better-placed to comment on the deal.
Treasury spokesperson Williams Banda acknowledged receipt of our questionnaire, but did not respond by press time.
Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu, who is also the official government spokesperson, said the nation would be updated on any developments that will continue to take place in the country whether self-funded or financed in collaboration with others.
However, a Ruforum member, Mary Shaba said the team has not been involved since the signing ceremony.
She said: “Since I am not in government, I can’t know what has happened between the signing and now. If you are not in the system, you can’t know anything.
“What Ruforum did was a linkage, and once that was done, it was between government and the foundation. I have had no communication with the team since that time.”
Bridgin Foundation president Tanko Mouhamadou did not respond to our questionnaire sent via email and WhatsApp.
Since its establishment in 2014, Bridgin Foundation has made similar, albeit relatively much smaller pacts with Liberia, Uganda, Nepal, Zambia, Nigeria, Ecuador, Ghana and Uzbekistan with little to show for it.
