Malawi loses out on $67.6 billion fund
Malawi has failed to seize investment opportunities that were presented at the second Africa Investment Forum held recently in South Africa having returned with no project deals.
On its twitter account, President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, wrote “We had 56 deals worth $67.6 billion that went into Board rooms sessions – a 44 percent increase from last year.
“Out of the 56 transactions that went into the Board rooms, 52 secured investment interests for deals worth $40.1 billion, compared to $38.7 billion last year. What an incredible achievement,” Adesina twitted.
In an interview, Chief Executive Officer Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation (Maiic), Taz Chaponda, said there is a problem on how the Malawi story is told elsewhere, hence, failing to attract foreign direct investment.
“We need to step up our efforts in selling the story of Malawi as an attractive investment destination, and also the need for a more constructive engagement between the public and private sectors.
“We also need to package the projects for investments properly, we are failing to put forth bankable projects and that is why we are failing to utilise such funds when we have huge investment gaps to be filled in our economy,” Chaponda said.
He said Maiic is currently championing more robust project preparation to help sell the investment case for Malawi.
Among the countries that tapped into the investment funds are South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana and Nigeria.
Currently Malawi is looking for huge investments in almost all sectors of the economy to turn around its fortunes and become a predominantly exporting nation.
