Lazarus Chakwera demands speed in K1.27 trillion projects
President Lazarus Chakwera has said he wants the implementation of three energy projects worth $1.5 billion (about K1.27 trillion) expedited.
The projects are the 350 megawatts (Mw) Mpatamanga Hydro-Power Project, Mozambique-Malawi Interconnector Project and the Malawi Electrification Access Project.
Speaking on his Facebook page after meeting stakeholders at the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) stationed in his office at Capital Hill, Chakwera said, together with technocrats and stakeholders, they tackled issues such as red tape and administrative obstacles that have delayed implementation of the projects.
He said the three projects represent $1.5 billion of foreign direct investment aimed at doubling the number of Malawians with access to electricity in the next few years.
“To address the challenges and push for progress towards energy sufficiency for Malawi, I called in senior officials from the Ministry of Energy, Electricity Generation Company, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom), Roads Authority, Public-Private Partnership Commission and the World Bank (WB) to collaborate in removing all existing bottlenecks towards expedited implementation of the projects,” Chakwera said.
The Government of Malawi is, with support from WB, implementing the Malawi Electricity Access Project as part of implementation modalities for the National Energy Policy of 2018.
The project, which is being implemented for five years starting from January 2020 by the Department of Energy Affairs and Escom, aims to upscale electrification efforts that are being done by the government and Escom to ensure that more people in urban and rural areas of the country are connected to electricity networks through either the main grid or sustainable off-grid systems that will be developed with support from the private sector through the Public- Private Partnership approach.
Head of PDU Colleen Zamba said they expected about 56,000 households to be connected to power this year, with the number growing to 100,000 by the end of next year.
On the Malawi-Mozambique Interconnector, Zamba said the PDU expects the project to be completed by the end of next year.
On the Mpatamanga hydropower project, Zamba said the project was big such that it would be completed by the end of 2027.
This was the second time for Chakwera to visit the PDU this year.
During the previous visit, Chakwera pushed for the speedy construction of a 15-story $110 million complex by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Business Women as well as fast-tracking of the Nchalo Greenbelt Cotton Project.
