Chaponda hired as CEO of Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation

Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation (Maiic), a development finance institution under a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement, has hired hired Taziona Chaponda, a development economist, to be its chief executive officer (CEO).

Taziona or Taz is son to for minister of agriculture Geogre Chaponda , a ruling Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) executive member.

However, Taz Chaponda is qualified in his own right as a development economist to head Maiic, a government initiative but private sector-led development finance institution, which President Peter Mutharika launched in November last year to empower agro- businesses and industrial firms acquire financial assistance, management and skills training as well as loans.

Maiic will not be a bank, but a vehicle for spearheading private sector development in line with the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS III).

Taz Chaponda will be heading Maiic with extensive experience across Sub-Saharan Africa, having worked in the major economic centers of Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg.

He also worked as an economic adviser in the Fiscal Affairs Division of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Washington DC.

Taz, who was admitted to the very prestigious  Yale University world fellows programme, was the Head of the South African Budget Office, responsible for the national and provincial budget framework.

He was also Head of Infrastructure Finance within the Government’s central PPP Unit where he led negotiations on a number of flagship projects in the transport and power sectors.

This expertise took him to Nigeria where he served in the Lagos State Governor’s Office.

In Malawi, Taz was the World Bank’s Country Office Economist working on private sector development, public expenditure management and poverty reduction strategies.

Taz is regularly called upon to lead capacity building programs in various African countries to strengthen planning and project appraisal systems and so enable better quality public services.

Meanwhile,  Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Joseph Mwanamvekha, has said  Maiic is set to roll out.

The establishment of Maiic follows findings of a feasibility study conducted by independent consultants in 2013 and 2018 that government-led development finance institutions were plagued by government hitches.

The Malawi Government has 20 percent stake with others taking up 80 percent under PPP arrangement. In Maiic, Malawi Government’s start-up capital comprises K22 billion and another K13 billion from the proceeds of the sale of Malawi Savings Bank (MSB).

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