Malawi nets $1bln in prospective investments at Lilongwe forum
Malawi’s first ever investment forum netted more than $1 billion in prospective investments, the trade minister said on Wednesday, as officials hoped the amount would rise to $10 billion once all proposed deals were concluded.
Malawi, which is trying to move away from dependence on Western donors who are withholding budget support, following revelations of corruption in 2012 demanding that the government investigate and prosecute those involved in stealing state funds. Over $20 million is believed to have been plundered.
The forum, which attracted 150 international investors from the United States, Asia and Europe.
“By close of business yesterday (Tuesday) we had closed in on three deals worth $1.1 billion in prospective investments but we are confident that the we will reach the $10 billion mark … with a lot of interest in energy, mining and the agriculture sector,” Minister of Trade Joseph Mwanavekha told Reuters.
He said all pending deals would be sealed within two weeks.
The southern African nation is dependent on tobacco as its main foreign exchange earner but the global anti-smoking lobby is hurting its earnings and crippling the fragile economy.-Reurters
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Wishful thinking. Our “Trained dog.”
Will the mining investors use solar energy or electricity?
mining is not viable in Malawi.
I have said it before and I will say it again.The only answer to all these rubbish is federal government.
Whatever!!
How do you ‘seal’ a deal on a ‘prospective’ investment? Surely it’s not yet ‘sealed’ if it is still prospective. $10 billion? Okay Mr. Mwanavekha, we expect to hear back from you within two weeks on the pending or ‘prospective’ deals. I’m sure you will detail the deals, give us a time-frame for when they will be realised, what kind of industries will be invested in, how many jobs they will create. After all, you are a very efficient, ‘business-friendly’ government. Rubbish. We all know these ‘investments’ will disappear in the wind. In another 6 months or year or two,… Read more »
kkkkk! you don’t ‘net’ a prospective deal, you net an agreed deal that’s been signed and sealed. until the ink is on paper then it’s just a prospect that hasn’t been ‘netted’ yet. rather say ‘some prospective investors have shown interest in doing business.’
chimodzimodzi kububyulila nkazi okongola ndikumawona ngati ukumumunyenga.
It is within my opinion of interest to lobby for interested investors in the country and my profound dream is that of other sources of energy sector and this government duly elected by loving Malawians should be the front line.the cheapest and reliable sources of energy will make all this dream come true.we had local investors in Namwera who tried wheat and legume farming but luck of reasonable source of energy,made the whole pirot project a flop due to high cost of diesel at the time and this is a serious threat to our agenda in all directions for investors.please… Read more »