Antigua launched a new era of Commonwealth investment diplomacy. Malawi, with mines entering production, reforms gaining traction and Commonwealth partners on every route to the sea, can show it how to deliver. This week in St John’s, Commonwealth leaders did something no Commonwealth summit had done before. They sat down with investors, bankers and the […]
Malawi’s latest bid to turn gold into a lifeline for its struggling economy is facing uncomfortable questions about the evidence on which it has been built. A state-backed scheme designed to intercept gold before it is smuggled out of the country rests on a headline-grabbing claim that $100 million worth of the precious metal is […]
Malawi is losing about $100mn a year to gold smuggling, according to the state-backed Malawi Mining Investment Company (Mamico), which is setting up trading centres to buy the metal directly from small-scale miners. Leonard Kalindekafe, Mamico’s chief executive, said the leakage undermines the economy and deprives Malawians of their wealth. He spoke to journalists during […]
Malawi’s government has declared itself delighted with progress on a sweeping review of the country’s Mines and Minerals Act, insisting the shake-up is firmly on track to deliver a modern, clear and responsive legal framework for the nation’s booming mineral sector. Principal Secretary for Mining, Rodwell Mzonde, revealed the review is advancing well as part […]
Malawi’s drive to build a mining industry around critical minerals is being held back by a chronic electricity shortage, according to a new World Bank report that warns the country’s mineral wealth could remain largely untapped without urgent power sector reform. The report, titled “From Potential to Prosperity: A Roadmap for Malawi’s Energy Transition Minerals”, […]
Malawi’s mining minister has reaffirmed that companies operating in the country will not be permitted to export unprocessed minerals, as the government seeks to capture more value from its nascent extractives sector rather than shipping raw material abroad for processing elsewhere. Speaking during a visit to the Kangankunde Rare Earth Project in Balaka on Wednesday, […]
Malawi is sitting on vast mineral wealth, yet its largest population — the youth — remains on the margins of the mining sector, trapped between lack of capital, lack of information and exploitation. That was the picture that emerged from a stakeholders’ meeting organised by ActionAid Malawi (AAM) to unveil a new project, Uplifting the […]
Minister of Mining Thoko Tembo has called on journalists to play a more balanced role in reporting on Malawi’s mining sector, describing the media as a crucial tool for disseminating accurate information to the public. Tembo made the remarks in Salima during a Media Engagement on Mining and Mineral related matters, urging reporters to ground […]
Malawi’s government is putting fresh measures in place to clean up the country’s mining sector, after it emerged the nation could be losing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of gold to smugglers every year. Minister of Mining Thoko Tembo said the Malawi Mining Investment Company (Mamico) was establishing mining cooperatives and formal structures for […]
Standard Bank Malawi has signalled its intent to deepen its role in the country’s mining sector, offering advisory services, financing arrangements and project funding as the industry enters what officials describe as a new phase of mineral development. The commitment emerged from a meeting between Standard Bank Malawi chief executive Phillip Madinga and Minister of […]
A leaked internal statement from the editor of Mining & Trade Review, a Malawian publication covering the extractives sector, has drawn scrutiny after it appeared to acknowledge a direct relationship between advertising revenue from mining companies and the tone of coverage those companies receive.. The statement, addressed to “stakeholders” and shared in what appears to […]
Australian firm Lindian Resources, which operates the Kangankunde rare earths mine in Balaka, has been cleared of any wrongdoing by Mining Minister Thoko Tembo during a parliamentary debate on Friday, in a significant boost for the controversial project. The clearance came as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Charles Mhango mounted a robust defence of […]
Malawi’s mining minister Thoko Tembo has told parliament that government inspections at the Kangankunde Rare Earth project in Balaka have found no evidence of illegal mining or unauthorised mineral exports, moving to allay concerns raised by MPs over the operations of one of the country’s most closely watched extractive projects. Tembo was responding to findings […]
Malawi’s parliament has stepped up scrutiny of the Kangankunde Rare Earths Mine in Balaka, with the Speaker of the National Assembly directing the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Climate Change to conduct a fresh investigation into the project’s operations within 30 days, amid concerns over licensing arrangements and the export of mineral samples. […]
Former Vice-President Michael Usi has launched a scathing attack on what he branded “selective justice” in Malawi, expressing deep pain that politicians allegedly involved in corruption and the theft of public resources continue to evade arrest. Speaking in a hard-hitting interview aired on Times Television on Saturday, Usi didn’t hold back, insisting those found on […]
A desperate gold miner has been crushed to death after an unstable pit caved in on top of him — the latest tragedy to strike an illegal mining site that has now claimed 13 lives in less than a year. Wilson Nkhata, 23, was buried alive when the pit collapsed at Khwambala, near Gogodi in […]
Malawi’s minister of mining, Thoko Tembo, has told parliament that corporate social responsibility obligations for mining companies are now legally binding rather than voluntary, under the Mines and Minerals Act of 2023. Tembo was responding to a supplementary question from Catherine Gotani Hara, the MP for Mzimba North East, who pressed the government on why […]
Mkango Resources’ pitch on Songwe Hill arrives with the polish familiar to junior miners courting political goodwill: bold value-addition claims, a ministerial photo opportunity, and projections of jobs and forex that are, for now, entirely prospective. None of this makes the project fraudulent or even unpromising. It does mean the claims deserve the kind of […]