Malawi’s Chihana attends Botswana launch of school-building initiative bankrolled by controversial tycoon Zunaid Moti

• Second Vice-President hails scheme funded by businessman who has faced money laundering and corruption allegations across the region

Malawi has been named among African countries set to benefit from a new continental initiative aimed at constructing schools, clinics and technical colleges – a scheme financed by South African businessman Zunaid Moti, a figure who has repeatedly found himself at the centre of corruption and money laundering controversies across the region.

The AGA ISAGO Foundation’s initiative was launched in Gaborone, Botswana, by its founder, Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko, with Malawi’s Second Vice-President Enock Chihana in attendance.

Who is bankrolling the scheme?

According to Boko, the initiative is designed to address gaps in healthcare, education and infrastructure development across the continent. But the source of its funding is likely to raise eyebrows: Moti, the South African tycoon behind the Moti Group, has long been a controversial figure in regional business circles, having faced a string of allegations over the years relating to fraud, corruption and questionable dealings across multiple African jurisdictions – claims he has consistently denied.

His decision to bankroll a high-profile continental development initiative, launched alongside a sitting head of state, is likely to draw scrutiny from observers wary of controversial financiers using philanthropic ventures to burnish their public image.

Chihana’s presence raises questions

Chihana’s attendance at the launch – and his enthusiastic endorsement of the initiative – is itself likely to attract attention back home, given the Second Vice-President’s own chequered relationship with public scrutiny since taking office.

Speaking at the event, Chihana hailed the scheme, saying it would complement government efforts to improve the social welfare of Malawi’s rural masses.

His warm reception of a project financed by a businessman dogged by controversy is likely to prompt questions over due diligence, with critics likely to ask what checks, if any, were carried out on the source of funding before Malawi agreed to be named among the initiative’s beneficiary countries.

Neither Chihana’s office nor the AGA ISAGO Foundation had responded to requests for further detail on the funding arrangements or vetting process at the time of publication.