Figures from the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) show that investment pledges in various sectors of the economy amounted to $613 million as at December 2023.
This accounts for about 22 projects.
The amount represents a 73 percent decline from $2.3 billion worth investment pledges recorded in December 2022 from some 21 projects.
This also means that the MITC has not been able to reach its intended target of $1 billion worth of investments in the 2023-24 financial year.
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MITC Chief Executive Officer Paul Kwengwere said the disparity is mainly necessitated by a big investment in the hydro power sub-sector, which was valued at $1.3 billion in 2022.
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“It is also worth noting that 71 percent of the investment pledges in the year up to December 2023 were from the services sector, while the industry sector contributed 29 percent.
“The agriculture sector contributed a very negligible percentage of less than 1 percent, respectively. Specifically, within the services sector, the financial industry (insurance) contributed 71 percent, followed by tourism and real estate,” he said.
Kwengwere said out of the 22 foreign direct investments, the centre registered in the year, five companies have a certain percentage of Malawian shareholding.
About 11 of the companies registered are at various stages in the implementation of their projects.
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“Five of the companies are operational while, for the others, we are facilitating land acquisition and licences. The others are awaiting equipment to arrive in the country,” Kwengwere said.
In an interview Thursday, National Planning Commission Communications Specialist Thom Khanje attributed the slump in investor interest in the past few years to global challenges including the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War.
“We can agree that we are on a recovery path and we do expect the figures to improve going forward. The coming in of the IMF is a significant boost.
“Even investors look at countries that have a programme with the IMF as viable because it shows that we are doing a few things right and the like; so, the figures are not surprising,” Khanje said.
He said if the country continues implementing the key interventions outlined in MIP-1, Malawi would be able to attain its set growth target.
