Malawi’s President Mutharika urged the Germany Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Muller to advocate for Malawi to benefit from the Green Climate Fund and in the finalisation of the processes to join the G20 Compact with Africa.
His call for assistance came recently during a ceremony held at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe where Germany also committed 58 million euro (about K48 billion) to his country for development programmes.
“Malawi is keen to benefit from the Green Climate Fund to mitigate effects of climate change. We are in the process of joining the G20 Compact with Africa, which has projects and investments that can benefit our country,” said Mutharika.
The Green Climate Fund was established within the framework of the United Nations with financial mechanisms to assist developing countries like Malawi in climate change adaptation and mitigation practices.
“We have serious energy challenges in our country and, through you, we are inviting investors from Germany to invest in our country, specifically to solve energy challenges which have been compounded by the adverse impact of climate change which has seen water levels in Lake Malawi dropping by about 40 percent,” added Mutharika.
Mutharika further commended the support the German Government has been rendering to Malawi, which he said hovers around 1.1 billion euro since the cooperation started 55 years ago.
He said his government is working hard to diversify energy sources to ensure Malawi has sustainable energy in the long run for maximised productivity.
However, Germany’s Muller assured Mutharika that he will lobby German companies to consider investing in bioenergy, specifically to reach out to the rural population.
Of late, development partners have demonstrated renewed confidence in Malawi’s efforts to fight corruption and improve good governance.
Last November, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced approval of disbursement of $15.4 million (about K11.3 billion) in the fund-supported Extended Credit Facility (ECF) after Malawi’s successful completion of the first ECF review.
IMF acting chairperson Tao Zhang, who is also the fund’s deputy managing director, said at the time that Malawi’s programme performance has been satisfactory.
And in December 2018, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a United States of America government agency said Malawi is eligible to negotiate for a second compact after the successful completion of the $350.7 million energy project.
In an earlier interview, the US Embassy in Malawi said eligibility for a second compact was dependent on several factors including an improved scorecard score, particularly on fighting corruption.
In the 2019 scorecard, Malawi scored 65 percent on controlling corruption from 59 percent in 2018, owing to increased prosecution of Cashgate cases and commitment by the government on legal reforms in the Anti-Corruption Bureau.