Chakwera dangles investments opportunities in Malawi

Malawi President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has dangled various investment opportunities, stressing that his government is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to make Malawi a safe haven for investments.

Speaking during a business forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday, Chakwera stated that his government is unflinching in its commitment to maintain Malawi’s rising profile as a great place to do business.

The forum was specifically organised to highlight the rich investment opportunities in Malawi and provide a platform for investors in Kenya to engage with the Government of Malawi.

Chakwera highlighted a number of areas his government is pursuing to create a conducive environment for foreign direct investment.

He cited the establishment of a One Stop Service Centre at the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC), which is designed to reduce the time it takes an investor to get their business up and running.

“This is done by facilitating access to business permits, incentives and land, among other services. When you arrive in Malawi to invest, you will find the MITC at the ready to support you is getting your operations under way.

 

Number 2: Access to land. The Lands Act, 2016 empowers the Ministry of Lands to allocate land to the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre for investment purposes. This means that when you come to Malawi to invest, you need not wonder how to secure land.

The MITC is where you turn and they will see it done. In addition to making land accessible for commercial purposes, my Government is currently working on establishing special economic zones to ease access to land for projects of strategic national importance.

As I speak, more than 500 hectares have already been allocated to MITC for the development of these special economic zones,” he narrated.

Chakwera further reported that that investors will no longer have to go through the encumbrance of applying for visas manually, as the process has been automated to promote efficiency.

He said the government is also developing the necessary infrastructure to facilitate regional trade.

The transport works include construction and rehabilitation of road and rail networks and upgrading airports.

“Beyond the work that is already being done, we have projects in the pipeline that require private sector participation. I, therefore, entreat you to consult MITC on the public projects that are available and the due processes to be followed. The right way to think about Malawi is not as a poor country, but a land of untapped opportunities!

Whether one looks at Malawi’s beautiful landscapes, or her abundant natural resources, or her hard-working and trainable workforce, or her peaceful and welcoming spirit, or her strong judicial system, the security of the opportunities for investment in Malawi is self-evident,” he said.

However, Chakwera emphasized that the lowest hanging fruit for anyone looking to invest in Malawi are the priority sectors that align with the Malawi 2063 vision that Malawi launched at the start of the year.

The vision seeks to turn Malawi into an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation by 2063.

Thus, the focus areas for investment are infrastructure in the transport, energy, and mining sectors; industrialization and commercialization in the agricultural sector; digitization in the governance sector; and human capacitation in the education and health sectors.

Chakwera said it is these focus areas for investment that Malawians believe will deliver the wealth creation, job creation, and food security that we need as a foundation for the attainment of Malawi 2063.

“Let me use one example from the agriculture sector of the work we are doing to make Malawi an attractive investor destination. We recently passed a Cannabis Act in parliament which allows investors to cultivate, process and sell Cannabis products. This is a fresh investment opportunity, and others are already calling it the next ‘Green Gold’ that has the potential to overtake our current major export commodity- tobacco.

“For any investor, it goes without saying that this is worth exploring, for the opportunities that are already opening up for investments in large scale Cannabis farming for export are not only many, but in high demand as well,” he said.

Chakwera further dangled a carrot in the mining sector, stressing that Malawi has precious minerals such as gold, gemstones, rare earths, phosphates and coal.

He said to protect these deposits from exploitation and preserve them for legitimate investors, he directed the Reserve Bank of Malawi to start buying gold from small-scale miners and to roll out a credible system for licensing their activities.

“The same applies to the establishment of Power Market Limited as a statutory facilitator of investments in the energy sector, where opportunities for investing in renewable energy generation and distribution are up for grabs.

“And if you have questions about tax incentives, we have officials from the Malawi Revenue Authority here to answer them. What you will find is that the combined potential the measures we have put in place for restructuring our economy going forward is enormous, but the time to get in on the action as an investor is now. The ball is in your court,” he challenged.

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