Malawi to have fertiliser plant by 2023, to reduce price – Lowe
Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe has said the country will have a modern fertiliser manufacturing plant by December, 2023.
Former president Peter Mutharika during his London last year struck an agricultural investment deal when he held talks with a team of investors, led by member of the Board for Innoselia Commercial Limited, Nir Gess and British Marine Limited chairman (Non-Executive), Akbar Asifis, to bring to Malawi a fertiliser manufacturing plant.
But there has been inaction on the investment.
About a decade or so ago, a Taiwanese firm wanted to set up a similar plant, but the plans were abandoned after Malawi Government switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to People’s Republic of China in 2007.
In 2018 Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) unveiled plans to set up a fertiliser manufacturing plant in Blantyre as part of its five-year strategic plan.
The company’s chief executive officer Andy Kalinde said the plant will help to reduce the price of fertiliser on the market and that the fertiliser plant is expected to be up and running by 2022, disclosing that three international organisations were ready to partner the parastatal.
Meanwhile, Minister Lowe said his ministry has been engaging with the SFFRFM officials as well as other stakeholders to make sure that the dream comes true.
“We have been engaging SFFRFM and other stakeholders that at all cost, by 2023, a fertilizer plant should be established here,” said Lowe in a statement he posted on Facebook.
He then disclosed that the Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima also approved the development in the reform report he submitted on Tuesday.
“We have given ourselves up to December 2023 to make sure that the first bag of fertilizer is manufactured at this plant,” he added.
Lowe said the plant will not only help in making available stocks of fertilizers that match the soil map requirements throughout the country at an affordable price but also will help in creating more jobs for our youth.
“In having imports substitute, we are again expecting to reduce the panic Reserve Bank experiences year in year out in allocating more forex to the purchase of these fertilizers abroad,” he further explained.
Malawi imports about 200 000 metric tonnes of fertiliser every year, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.
The plant will help to reduce the price of fertiliser on the market.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Very very good idea awaiting implementation. This wil also create employment in the country. Experience has it that locally produced commodities are expensive considering that all raw materials r imported. It is good direction tho.
Yeh yeh. Keep talking guys takuzolowerani.
Nkhamba kamwa zanu zatifikapo. Mwatikwana ife a Malawi. You’re getting into our nerves. Kulankhula ngati mukuuza ana oyamwa. Osangokhala chita tidzaone zitangochitika. Chilima siuja amachiya gym pa nsanja nkhani yake yomweyi. Tidziti mukapanda kuyankhu ndiye kuti simukugwira ntchito. Khalani chete. Zikulowa mu mitima mwathu zili tho kupanga ukali tsiku limodzi zizatuluka. Wait and see.
This is brilliant and long overdue. Tonse Alliance please implement this. Enawa azaone kuti you are men of vision
This is great news to hear; let’s actualise it on the ground and sustin it. May God Almighty see this Fertiliser Plant (Local Fertiliser Manufacturing Industry) through to fruition & productivity in Jesus Christ name…
Just go it alone. Why do you want to partner with a foreign investor? Have confidence in yourselves. Why always look for foreign companies to assist you?
They have never manufactured it before, they are looking for people who have the machines ready
What raw materials are used to come up with the type of fertilizers we use in Malawi? Are these materials readily available in the country? If not then there will not be any significant saving of forex. Why did Optichem fail?
Optichem just do granulation, but you have a point Sir. Optichem should be used as reference when coming up with this
Even if u set up a fertilizer manufacturing company here, the price of the local fertilizer shall still be high. Just go around and check prices of locally manufactured goods against the imported ones, u will observe that our locally produced goods are expensive than the imported ones. Quality is another aspect we will have to look at. Most of our local products are of poor quality hence cannot compete on the international market. All these factors have to be looked into before we start making declarations and giving deadlines. We r tired of time wasters and jokers giving us… Read more »
I agree with you brother, it’s not a guarantee that fertilizer akapangidwa kuno adzatchipa look at sugar, cooking oil eggs etc zakunja zoti palinso transport and duty mkumachipa kuposa zakonkuno