Blackouts Shrink as Energy Policy Shifts from Crisis to Industrial Strategy

In the energy sector, President Peter Mutharika said Malawi was moving away from emergency responses toward long-term industrial planning.

In his SONA address, he confirmed that repairs at Tedzani Hydro had restored 31 megawatts to the national grid, while new generation from Raiply Biomass in Mzimba and the Nanjoka-Egenco solar plant in Salima had added a further 20 megawatts.

According to figures from ESCOM, load shedding in major cities has already reduced by more than 40 percent, easing pressure on households and businesses that have relied on generators for years.

Mutharika said the government’s ambition was to increase total national generation capacity from 551 megawatts to over 1,000 megawatts by 2030, through a mix of hydro rehabilitation, solar expansion, biomass projects and private sector investment.

On mining, the President said Malawi had entered a new era by suspending all mining licences, auditing the entire registry and banning raw mineral exports pending legal reforms. He said this was intended to end what he described as “colonial extraction economics”, where minerals are exported cheaply while communities remain poor.

He announced plans to establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund, which would receive mining royalties and equity dividends, ensuring that natural resource wealth benefits future generations rather than disappearing into private hands.