By Pemphero Malimba:
A feasibility study on diaspora engagement for enhanced investment has proposed the establishment of diaspora housing and agriculture infrastructure schemes to encourage members of the Malawian community in various countries to invest more in the country’s real estate and agriculture sectors.
The two schemes will be established alongside the diaspora housing fund and agricultural infrastructure loan fund through already existing institutions such as the Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation (Maicc) to provide financing.
This transpired during a validation workshop for the report held in Lilongwe on Wednesday.
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The study, which was conducted for one year, revealed that most Malawians living outside the country were interested in investing in the two sectors.
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Presenting the report, University of Malawi retired associate professor of Economics Winford Masanjala cited the establishment of the Diaspora Housing Fund as crucial to Malawians outside the country.
“The members of the diaspora can access plots using the scheme. They can then service those plots using the expertise that is already in Malawi and can service mortgage through the fund,” Masanjala said.
He said he expected the government to implement the recommendations.
“We expect the government to take up the recommendations and then they will form an institutional framework which is going to implement the recommendations if the government finds them acceptable,” Masanjala said.
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During the workshop, Ministry of foreign Affairs Deputy Director of Planning and Research Patricia Banda Chilije announced the adoption of the report.
“On behalf of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, I declare this diaspora investment feasibility report adopted. Should you have any more comments or questions or you want clarification, please send them in by next week Wednesday,” she said
She said the development would help to ensure that new policies were developed in line with needs of people in the diaspora.
“Now that we know the investment needs of the diaspora, going forward, we can begin to mainstream these needs into our policies, both in the public and private sector, and not just assume, which has been a concern of those in the diaspora,” she said.
International Organisation for Migration Malawi Chief of Mission Nomagugu Ncube said the organisation would support the government in implementing the recommendations.
She said the organisation was interested in ensuring that there was a mutual relationship between people living in the diaspora and their respective governments.
“We understand that when people migrate, they migrate for different reasons to different areas and some of the people in these areas return an interest in their country of origin and have invested interest in their countries of origin,” she said.
The study was conducted as part of programmes that the IOM is conducting to support enhanced diaspora financial engagement mechanisms for the governments of Lesotho, Malawi and Mauritius.
