By Kingsley Jassi:
Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) has not been receiving funding for its development budget for the past three years, Times Business has learned.
MITC Director General Kruger Phiri and his team appeared before members of the Parliamentary Cluster on Industry, Trade and Media to justify their budget.
The funding situation has affected project implementation, including the Chigumula Industrial Park development in Blantyre which needs K4 billion for completion of key works to allow in investors.
“If we get the K4 billion, we should be able to complete the works in May and the investors will be on site,” Phiri said, adding that the 22-hectare park was initially planned to be ready by this month.
Since 2023, MITC has not seen disbursement of its budgetary allocations on development and, in the proposed budget, there is K162 million cut from the initially submitted budget of K1.5 billion, a move said to further limit operations at a critical time when the country needs investment facilitation.
According to Phiri, who was appointed to the position last month, there are four investors ready to take up 77 percent of the land at the industrial park once the ongoing works are completed, a deal that could bring $19.7 million (about K40 billion) in revenue to MITC.
He said MITC had plans to be self-financed in future, with the law already providing levy collections from exports, imports and investments.
“It is prudent that we request for these funds to help as bridge financing to transition to our plans,” Phiri said.
During the meeting, legislators, through cluster chairperson Susan Dossi, further inquired on the progress of Magwero Industrial Park as she promised to lobby for more funding to ensure the “long overdue” projects are finally concluded.
MITC updated that the lease agreements have just been signed with Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms, the company to do the development, as other processes are also moving.
During media interviews, Phiri further explained that construction works are set to commence soon after the lease agreement and other processes are completed as the company is ready with resources.
“Soon, there will be the signing of a shareholders’ agreement and, so far, we’ve already written Escom [Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi], water board and the railway company to connect their infrastructure to the site because the investors need to find this already on site,” Phiri said.
The $300 million Magwero Industrial Park has potential to generate up to $600 million in export proceeds, according to the initial project profile but Phiri said the potential is up to $2 billion.
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