By Maston Kaiya:
President Lazarus Chakwera has described the Mangochi-Makanjira road project as key to socio-economic development of the country.
He made the remarks on Saturday during the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Malawi and the Saudi Kingdom on the Mangochi- Makanjira road project at Saudi Development Fund offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Chakwera hailed the cordial relationship between Malawi and Saudi Arabia which, he said, is based on trust and dates back to 1999.
“I am extremely grateful with the relationship with Saudi Arabia, which has since taken us to other levels; for example, the Mangochi-Makanjira road project—which will have potential to facilitate inter and intra-trade activities,” Chakwera said.
The President also said Saudi Arabia supported Malawi in constructing Phalombe District Hospital, further pointing at the Makwasa-Bangula Road as another project Saudi Arabia bankrolled, among other projects.
Apart from signing the Mangochi-Makanjira road project agreement, Chakwera said he had asked the Saudi Arabia government to assist Malawi on fuel and fertiliser issues.
The First Citizen then invited mining investors from Saudi Arabia to come to Malawi and explore opportunities.
On his part, Chief Executive Officer for the Saudi Development Fund, Sultan Alamarshand, said Saudi Arabia would speed up the process for the project to start.
He said he was happy with Chakwera’s commitment as shown by his availability at the signing ceremony of the Mangochi-Makanjira road project.
Alamarshand said Saudi Arabia has set aside over $20 million for the commencement of the Mangochi-Makanjira road and assured Malawi of the kingdom’s willingness to support it in implementing other development projects.
Meanwhile, the government of Saudi Arabia has committed $25 billion in investments across Africa.
Crown Prince of Saudi Kingdom, Muhammad Bin Salman, announced the development on Friday during the inaugural Saudi Arabia- Africa Summit in the capital Riyadh.— Mana
