The government has resuscitated the operations of Malawi Development Corporation (MDC), Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda has said.
Chithyola Banda disclosed this in Lilongwe when he announced measures to cushion Malawians from the effects of devaluation.
MDC is resurfacing at a time Malawi needs investments totaling K12.440 trillion to meet the aspirations as espoused in the first 10-year Malawi Implementation Plan (MIP-1) spread over the 10- year period from 2021 to 2030.
“After seeing the importance of this company, the government has brought back the Malawi Development Corporation to assist in the development of this country,” Chithyola Banda said.
Secretary to the Treasury Macdonald Mafuta Mwale told Times Business on Tuesday that the company has already been registered.
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“Yes it is back, already registered and ready to go,” Mafuta Mwale said.
Speaking in February during the 2023 National Development Conference, seasoned banker Misheck Esau warned authorities against recreating the MDC in financing the MIP-1 and Malawi 2063.
According to Esau, national development finance institutions have failed in Africa, adding that the success stories are not many.
He said perhaps private sector-led development finance institutions is the way to go.
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Furthermore, Esau said the government has a few success stories in terms of investments and that, as a source of funding, the government could get rid of some of these initiatives.
“Why should the government own 70 something percent of Sunbird. Take it out. That’s a successful entity, tested. Take it out. Move that money somewhere else,” Esau said.
MDC was established in 1964 as a development finance corporation with the mandate of providing equity and loan financing to new ventures.
MDC had a portfolio in subsidiary companies which were operating in banking, tourism, cement production, packaging, property investment, and imports and exports.
