Malawi to have tea auction floor: JB says Nyasa to enter into PPP on cigarettes manufacturing
Malawi government will establish the first ever Tea Auction Floor in the country later this year to maximize foreign exchange earnings.
The establishment of the tea auction floor, according to President Joyce Banda, will allow tea to be sold in the country.
Speaking during the official opening of the 2013/2014 budget meeting of Parliament in Lilongwe Friday, President Banda said in her State of Nation Address that Malawi will be able to overcome the foreign exchange lean period like the country experienced between October 2012 and March 2013.
“It is hoped that this will help Malawi maximise foreign exchange earnings from tea sales. Furthermore, Malawi will be able to overcome the foreign exchange lean period experienced between October and March,” said Banda.
She also said her government has reorganized the Livestock Industry to ably promote dairy, meat and leather sub-sectors.
“This is to encourage diversification out of agriculture into manufacturing and agro-processing. Investors have already engaged Government to set up factories in dairy, meat, and cooking oil,” Banda added.
She also told the House that her government is in discussion with the Nyasa Manufacturing Company to enter into a public private partnership for the expansion of their cigarettes manufacturing factory.
The Malawi leader also informed the august House that a Dubai based company is establishing a textiles factory in the country and that it has already identified a site and opened their offices in Lilongwe.
“My Government also remains committed to promoting the cotton industry as a way of broadening our export base. During the 2012/2013 financial year, government supported farmers with extension services and distributed 38,918 metric tonnes of certified cotton seed under the Cotton Up-Scaling Programme.
“Mr. Speaker, Sir, one great achievement in the cotton sub-sector this year, was the passing of the Cotton Act by this House. In the next few months, my Government will commission cotton ginneries in Chikwawa, Salima and Karonga districts,” she said.
The Act provides for a regulatory framework in the cotton industry and facilitates the participation of the private sector in the production and processing of cotton.
Sunseed Oil Ltd is another company President Banda said is putting up a plant to process such crops as soya beans, sunflower, and groundnuts into edible oils and animal feed for both local and export markets.
“This will help Malawi save US$45 million in crude oil imports. Furthermore, the company projects that it will earn about US$52 million from the export of soya cake,” figured Banda whose State of Nation Address was themed ‘Malawi on the road to transformation’.
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