The World Bank has expressed concern over the reputation of the government’s main electrification initiative, the Malawi Rural Electrification programme, (Marep), and has since raised governance concerns.
According to the bank, the Marep initiative has previously been a subject of perceived corruption.
The Bretton Woods institution says transparent and fair procurement processes are essential not only for fostering public confidence but also for attracting potential investors and encouraging healthy competition among suppliers and contractors.
The bank says by addressing the perception of corruption associated with the Marep initiative, the government can demonstrate its commitment to effectiveness and accountability.
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“Financially while Marep has a robust funding mechanism in place — a 4.5 percent levy on fuels and energy sales, which generates about $10million funding per year — it has failed to achieve the rapid electrification goals.
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“The government is re-designing the Marep procurement methodology as a step towards achieving better governance and financial management,” the bank says in its recently released Malawi Economic Monitor.
The bank has also expressed worry over the operational efficiencies at the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) especially on the way the firm has been handling the Malawi Electricity Access Project (Meap).
The World Bank notes that Escom’s performance under Meap has been a cause for concern, with progress falling far short of expectations.
The bank adds that with construction works being carried out by its own staff, these additional bottlenecks have significantly slowed progress.
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But Escom Chief Executive Officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda, while admitting that the Meap project is behind schedule since it was launched in 2019, was quick to note that his institution has managed to do more since last year.
Kumwenda said most of the issues were to do with procurement procedures which took so long and some safeguards, like engagement of project engineers, were not done in good time.
“It was also a requirement of the bank that for customers who need poles, there was a need for us to do environmental impact assessments. This requirement has now been waived which means project implementation time will be shorter than originally planned.
“For your information, we have connected almost all customers who only needed a service drop line and meter. Next phase will be for customers who need poles and conductors; in short, what we call low voltage distribution lines and transformers,” Kumwenda said.
He added that Escom engaged the bank to allow them to procure all materials at once.
“We have advertised tenders and hopefully the procurement process will be finalised soon.
“For drop service lines, we used our internal human capital but in order to meet the target, the coming phase will be outsourced to local contractors,” Kumwenda said
