By William Kumwembe in Washington DC, USA:
Malawi has secured $30 million funding from the Opec Fund for International Development and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development for the construction of the Mangochi-Makanjira Road in Mangochi District.
Of the amount, $20 million (about K36 billion) is a loan from Opec Fund while the Kuwait Fund would pump about $9.9 million (approximately K17.1 billion) into the project.
Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda, Opec Fund President Adbdulhamid Alkhalifa and Kuwait Fund acting Director General Waleed Al-Bahar signed the loan agreements on the sidelines of the on-going IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC Thursday.
Signing of the loan facility pacts comes a few weeks after Parliament passed a loan authorisation bill permitting the government to borrow part of the money for the project.
It will be used for upgrading the existing single-lane paved road from Mwanjati to Unga to a packed two-lane bitumen paved standard road.
The funds complete the tranches of funding required to support the whole 100-kilometre road stretch.
Information from the Ministry of Transport indicates that other trenches of funding have been secured from the Saudi Fund for Development, which has provided 75 million Saudi Riyals (approximately $20 million) under the Saudi Fund for Development.
The government committed $20 million to the project, making it ready for commencement.
Speaking after signing the agreement, Chithyola Banda said the road project was ready for commencement.
“The signing [today] demonstrates that now we are at a very critical moment of getting started with the construction of the road.
“The district is an essential hub for tourism with the lake and other features; so, the road is socially and economically essential,” Chithyola Banda said.
In a separate interview, Alkhalifa said the fund’s commitment to supporting road construction works demonstrated its cordial relationship with Malawi.
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