President Lazarus Chakwera has announced that his administration has secured a partnership with a foreign company which will distribute modern stoves.
He said this is part of the efforts aimed at ensuring that the problem of illegal charcoal production and use is addressed.
Chakwera made the remarks Wednesday when he hosted religious leaders from the Eastern Region at Chikoko Bay State Lodge in Mangochi District.
Without disclosing the name of the company, Chakwera said the company is currently operating in East Africa, Kenya in particular, and that his administration had negotiated with it to open its Southern African office in Malawi.
Chakwera expressed worry that there are some unscrupulous people who are cutting down trees without regard to posterity, hence exposing the country to serous effects of climate change.
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“It is sad that there are some people who are carelessly cutting down trees to produce charcoal for cooking. As a result, Malawi is being exposed to a lot of climatic shocks that are affecting millions of people. This is sad and must stop because we, as a country, cannot continue taking that route,” he said.
The President also revealed that as another alternative to charcoal, his government has already secured financial support from the World Bank to help in scaling up access to electricity in the country.
“Let me report to you that Malawi is among the 10 countries which will have support from the World Bank to see to it that all households are connected to electricity by the end of the year 2030. We could not have said this if it was impossible but we are certain that it will happen. That is why we are informing you [about the development] so that you can be aware of what your government is doing on the issue,” Chakwera said.
In his remarks, Bishop Andrew Mankhanamba, who is national coordinator for Time to Revive Ministries, commended Chakwera for utilising other energy solutions as a way of reducing pressure on natural resources such as trees.
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“We need to take advantage of the steps Malawi is making to improve our lives so that we can be self-reliant. It’s not the job of one man to move Malawi forward,” he said.
