FromAidtoTrade
By Edwin Nyirongo
Malawian President Peter Mutharika delivers the keynote address at the Malawi-China Investment Forum in Lilongwe on June 21 STANLEY MAKUTIAssessed as one of the poorest countries in the world by the World Bank in 2015, small, landlocked Malawi in southeast Africa needs investment - and needs it badly.
The Malawi Investment and Trade Center (MITC), the country’s premier trade and investment promotion agency, hosted a two-day Malawi-China Investment Forum in capital Lilongwe in June to showcase Malawi’s investment potential to China, with the possibility of creating joint ventures between companies from the two countries.
The event especially targeted investors from Anhui, a province in east China. Themed “Fostering Production Capacity Cooperation between Malawi and Anhui,” it attracted about 100 investors from the Chinese province along with 250 local business leaders.
Malawian President Peter Mutharika, who presided over the opening of the forum, guaranteed security to investors as well as an improved energy scenario.
“Malawi is at a turning point. In the last two years, we have begun to do what we have never done at any point in our history. We are moving Malawi from aid to trade and I want to assure you that the government is set to provide security of your investment, life and property,” Mutharika said.
He added that to facilitate the investment process, a one-stop service center has been established at MITC in Lilongwe. The key sectors where Malawi is seeking direct investment are agriculture and agro-processing, energy, mining, information and communication technology, tourism, infrastructure and manufacturing. Mutharika urged investors to build “productive partnerships” with his country’s private sector.
He also addressed the issue of daily electricity blackouts. “For many years, energy has been the binding constraint in our economy. Now, we are upgrading our electricity generation and transmission capacity. On completion of this exercise by June 2017, our transmission infrastructure will have the capacity to carry up to 7,000 mw,” he said.
Mutharika, who visited Anhui last year, told investors Malawi needs transformation investment that will substitute imports and propel exports.
Leader of the Chinese delegation, Song Wei-ping, said the areas of interest for Chinese investors were education, with particular emphasis on technical colleges, trade, and agriculture.
Song said there were many potential investment areas, such as mechanized irrigation and seed produc-tion, and he would be spreading the word to colleagues on his return home.
“It is our hope that this forum will open up avenues for other Chinese investors to come and invest in this beautiful country,” Song said.
There are 23 overseas enterprises in Africa established by investors from Anhui alone with their Africadedicated investment amounting to $1.2 billion, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Song said the Anhui Provincial Government will help Chinese enterprises enter Malawi, facilitating cooperation on production capacity and Malawi’s development planning.
Speaking after the event, Malawi’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Joseph Mwanamvekha, told online news portal The Times that substantial deals had been made.
“The forum was a milestone and a success. A number of deals were made which the ministry is compiling jointly with the MITC,” he said.
According to International Trade Center, the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, in 2015 only 5.2 percent of Malawi’s total exports - valued at $55.8 million - landed in China, while imports from China totaled $303.8 million. CA