The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has stepped up efforts to foster access to investment funding for projects with potential to transform the country’s economic landscape through export growth, import substitution, job creation and industry commercialisation.
The central bank has listed 19 projects in agriculture, tourism, mining and manufacturing (ATM+M) as well as the health sector estimated at over K1.4 trillion.
The 2025 RBM Projects Compendium unveiled at the Investors Symposium in Blantyre on Tuesday shows that the development financing of the projects looks more inward for resources, augmented by development partners in the wake of shifting global priorities and declining development aid.
Key sectors that the central bank is focusing on include banking, which boasts of K7.4 trillion in funding resources, the pension and life insurance sectors with money in excess of K5.5 trillion and potential cheaper loans offered at wholesale prices from Malawi Agriculture Industrial and Investment Corporation (Maiic).
Speaking during the conference, Castel Malawi Malawi human resources and corporate affairs manager Gloria Zimba, whose project Sapitwa Beer: New Product Development (Sorghum Project), is seeking funding of $57 million (about K100 billion), said the business seeks to replace malted beer with sorghum-based products.
She said this introduces a substitute raw material, sorghum, which will be locally produced, to replace the four million kilogrammes (kg) malt, which is imported from Ukraine and Russia annually.
“Currently, Castel get around $2 million [about K3.5 billion] from spirit exports. If this goes live, export revenues are estimated to increase to $20 million [about K35 billion],” said Zimba.
On his part, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Vice-Chancellor Professor Emmanuel Kaunda said for their K57.27 billion fertiliser manufacturing plant, they aim to generate over 2 000 jobs, save foreign exchange and cut imports by 50 percent by 2030 as imports continue rising, increasing from 147 000MT in 2004 to 611 000MT in 2019, heavily straining the country’s foreign currency reserves
Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Daisy Kambalame observed that the cost of financing has been one of the biggest challenges discouraging investments, especially in agriculture.
She said: “The compendium is creating a situation for banks to provide affordable financing, the waivers needed to unlock financing and when it comes to foreign exchange, there is recognition that we need to generate more forex to address our challenges.
“We need to look within the resources we have in the country because no one will bring solutions for us.”
Bankers Association of Malawi president and Standard Bank plc chief executive Phillip Madinga observed that financial sector is committed to bring the ATM+M to life and see to it that opportunities are brought to light, especially supporting foreign exchange generating activities.
Meanwhile, RBM Governor MacDonald Mafuta Mwale has said with inflation rate going down, there is a possibility to consider reviewing the policy rate currently at 26 percent with bank lending rates hovering around 35 percent.
He said projects are important to Malawi and the central bank will find other ways to ensure that development financial institutions come in to help with finance.
Said Mafuta-Mwale: “We are in discussion with Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to capacitate Maaic to do wholesale lending to our financial institutions.
“We have put a dedicated team to continue monitoring progress and be able to come in where they have challenges to make sure the projects are followed as they start implementation and identify more projects to become part of the programme.”
NBM Development Bank has committed to support the mining sector by expanding the chalk and other gypsum related products under the project by Familjisa Women Mining Cooperative Society Limited.
Based in Dowa, the project is seeking a financial injection of $590 886 (about K1 billion) to procure and construct storage equipment, capacity building, marketing and distribution.
