Mitc courts financiers on new project compendium
Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) says it is courting investors and financiers for its fifth edition of the flagship investment compendium, Malawi Investment Projects.
The compendium includes 17 government projects and 11 private sector bankable projects in transport, energy, agriculture and tourism.
Among others, government is seeking partnership for the construction of new Mzuzu Airport pegged at $270.5 million (about K472 billion), rehabilitation of Chileka International Airport in Blantyre at $101.7 million (about K177 billion) and the Mount Mulanje Integrated Cable Car Resort estimated at $49.99 million (about K86 billion).
In an interview yesterday, Mitc chief executive officer Paul Kwengwere, while admitting that the previous compendiums received a lukewarm response from the investing public, said they aim to improve adoption rate of the flagged projects.
He said: “There are more projects that will be adopted into the compendium.
“We have been meeting different financiers, including Malawi Agriculture and Industrial Investment Corporation, Export Development Fund and other development finance institutions and they have expressed interest in the projects.
“We are still discussing with commercial banks. We try to see how they can come up to absorb these projects.”
Kwengwere said they took this step considering that most times the investors complain about financing, partnerships and joint ventures.
Meanwhile, Malawi’s investment pledges in the 2023/24 financial year declined to $612 million (about K1 trillion) from the $2.4 billion (about K4.2 trillion) recorded the previous year.
In 2021, Malawi got 2021 $800 million (about K1.4 trillion) in investment plegdes.
One of the domestic investors, Corran Farming Limited director Stuart Ross said lack of access to finance has been a major problem in growing his crocodile farming business which was established in 2017.
He said while the firm is able to generate $600 000 (about K1 billion) from the export of 2 000 crocodile skins to Italy in a year, operating at their full potential could earn the firm $5 million (K8.7 billion) from the export of 10 000 crocodile skins.
Said Ross: “We are regulated by the International Crocodile Farmers Association and we are one of the eight accredited farmers in the Southern Africa and one of the 42 worldwide.
“For investments, access to finance and cost of finance are some of the biggest challenges to unlocking investments in the country.”
Speaking at a Malawi Investment Summit held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, President Lazarus Chakwera presented Malawi as one of the most attractive destinations for foreign direct investment.
