The African Development Bank (AfDB) has given Malawi $29 million (about K13 billion) as sector budget support for the protection of basic social services in the country. Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe said yesterday at the signing ceremony in Lilongwe that this is part of the pledge by the pan-African…
A local firm is engaged in negotiations to partner with a $1 billion (K515 billion) multinational private equity fund to provide technical and financial support to increase the reforestation programme of Viphya Plantations in Mzimba, Business News has learnt. This group invests around the world in businesses that provide cost effective solutions to pressing energy,…
Malawi has secured $50 million (about K25 billion at the current exchange rate) from the World Bank under the Shire River Basin Management Programme (phase one) to upgrade the aging Kamuzu Barrage at Liwonde. The upgrading, which will span from 2014 to 2017, will see the construction of 14 new gates, a new bridge, a…
The National Switch (Nat Switch), a shared switch platform to connect all the country’s commercial banks, is at the implementation stage where it is undergoing system integration testing (SIT), an official has said. Nat Switch steering committee chairperson William Kaunda told Business News yesterday the switch has been installed, tested, fully configured and banks have…
Parliament yesterday rejected a $50 million (about K20 billion) Loan Authorisation Bill for government to borrow funds from the World Bank to finance increasing access to higher education at the University of Malawi (Unima) colleges, vocational education provider Teveta and Mzuzu University (Mzuni). The rejection took government by surprise after it received overwhelming support from…
Malawi’s economic growth is far below its full potential with the country’s 2013 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) having increased by about half compared to its possible full throttle. The World Bank June 2014 Global Economic Prospects Report released this week indicates that Malawi achieved 4.2 percent GDP growth rate in 2013—in contrast to 6.1 percent…
Local Development Fund (LDF) on Thursday disclosed that it will spend $32 million (close to K 12 billion) in 2014/2015 Public Works Programme. The Public Works Programme (PWP) component of the Malawi Social Action Fund (Masaf) is a safety net scheme targeting poor households and communities. The targeted households get employed to work in construction,…
Malawi Government says online registration of businesses as part of reforms to improve the ease and reduce the cost of doing business, will soon be put into action. Ministry of Industry and Trade spokesperson Wiskes Nkombezi confirmed the development in an interview last week, saying the automation is in its final stages as such the…
The Ministry of Finance has added its weight on the establishment of the National Switch (Nat Switch), a shared switch platform to connect all the banks, saying it will improve processing of both high-value and low-value transactions in the banking industry. The Nat Switch, largely funded by the World Bank through part of the five-year…
The World Bank has pledged to support Malawi in developing and up-scaling the warehouse receipts system (WRS) which, it says, has the potential to increase farmers’ income and reduce poverty in the country. World Bank country manager for Malawi, Laura Kullenberg, made the pledge in Lilongwe on Tuesday when she addressed participants of a day-long…