Mining & Trade News

Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera says his administration is determined to scale-up transport infrastructure development projects in the country in order to attain job, wealth and food security creation agendas.

Chakwera cited in his speech themed   “Accelerating the Change Malawians Fought For” presented when he opened the third meeting in the 49 session of parliament and the 2021/2022 budget meeting in Lilongwe.

The president explained that improved transport infrastructure is part of the three delivery accelerators that the current administration will invest time, resources, and energy in to speed up the realization development agendas.

Chakwera said: “Transport infrastructure and public works has been identified as an accelerator of economic activities. There can be no exchange of goods and services without transport infrastructure.”

“In the next financial year, my Administration will commence construction and rehabilitation of several road projects including:  Expansion to dual carriageway of the M1 road from Crossroads Roundabout to Alimaunde in Kanengo, Lilongwe at a total cost of US$25 million through a grant from the People’s Republic of China.”

He also announced that government intends to expand to dual carriageway M1 Road Section between Lilongwe Hotel and Lilongwe CCAP estimated to cost about US$ 30 million with a grant from the Japanese Government and the stretch between Lilongwe Hotel and Crossroads Roundabout will be financed locally.

Government is also planning to rehabilitate M1 Road from Kamuzu International Airport Junction to Mzimba Turn Off and from Kacheche to Chiweta at an estimated cost of 195 million Euros co-financed by the European Investment Bank and the Malawi Government as well as Nsipe – Liwonde Road at an estimated cost of US$30 million financed by the African Development Bank.

Chakwera said: “My Administration will use part of the MK1 trillion Infrastructure bonds which will be raised on the local market to rehabilitate and upgrade eight roads.”

Among the roads to be refined from infrastructure bonds include; Nsanje – Marka Road – Completing upgrading to paved 28 kilometres; Dzaleka – Ntchisi – Mpalo – Malomo Road upgrading to paved road covering a distance of 70 kilometres and the M5 Balaka Market – Kaphatenga – Dwangwa Mukwiya (Nkhatabay) – rehabilitation covering a distance of 469 kilometers

“We will also commission the design and construction of the other stretch from Edingeni- Kamchocho-Euthini-Mpherembe-Rumphi as this road has a huge significance in this agricultural rich area,” he said.

On rail transport, the President stressed that his administration will resuscitate the Sena Corridor Railway from the Port of Beira in Mozambique to Limbe in Blantyre. The project will involve rehabilitation and upgrading of the 201 kilometre Limbe – Marka railway section.

Chakwera said: “The funding for these 40 works will also come from the MK1 trillion Government bond. In addition, my Administration will prioritize the construction of the Salima-Tunduma Railway-line under the Build Operate and Transfer Model following review of the relevant laws to make this happen.”

“Meanwhile, a feasibility study of this railway will start as a matter of urgency. Still on railway lines, we will also commence construction of a 170 metre long Rail – Road bridge across the Ruo River.”

On water transport services, the President announced that government will finalize the construction works on a MK10 billion Port at Likoma Island which will include a landing facility at Chizumulu Island.

He also said his government is planning to resuscitate local aviation industry through establishment of the Malawi Civil Aviation Authority to regulate the air transport sub – sector.

“We will have a fully-fledged Civil Aviation Authority by June 2022, my administration is determined to bring back the glory that our flagship airline once enjoyed and we will recapitalize Malawi Airlines.”

Meanwhile government is revising the National Construction Industry Act of 1996 and its subsidiary regulations to be in line with African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.

Government is expected to enforce Malawian construction firms Order of 2014 which requires foreign firms to either partner in a Joint Venture arrangement or subcontract at least 30 percent of the works by volume or value to local Malawians.

Malawi’s Roads Authority (RA) is inviting eligible consultants to supervise the rehabilitation and widening of four sections of the M1 road between capital city Lilongwe and Northern Region town of Karonga.

The project will, which will involve the rehabilitation of a total of 301km of the M1 road, will be financed using proceeds of a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and a grant from the European Union (EU) under the Africa Investment Facility.

The four targeted sections include; from the turn off to the Kamuzu international airport to kasungu (102 km); from Kasungu to Jenda (85.5 km); from Jenda to Mzimba turn off (46.74 km) ; and Kacheche to Chiweta (66.5 km).

The works will include the widening of carriageways, construction of shoulders, reconstruction of the pavement, widening of bridges and implementation of road safety interventions.

“The primary objective of the consultancy services is to simultaneously carry out the supervision of the rehabilitation and widening works on all four sections of the works including technical and financial supervision, contract management and to ensure that the works are carried out in accordance with the respective contract specifications and to the satisfaction of the implementing agency,” says RA in a statement.

It states that each section will have a defects liability period of 12 months during which limited input will be required by the consultant.

The contract for the provision of the consultancy services is expected to start not earlier than May 1, 2021 with an estimated total duration of 44 months (inception phase of 2 months, construction period of 30 months and defects notification of 12 months).

RA says the invitation for expressions of interest is open to all firms and joint ventures from all countries, and shall be followed by the production of short-listed consulting firms.

“The short-listed firms will be formally invited to submit technical and financial proposals, which shall be evaluated. Award of the contract shall be made on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT),” states RA.

Government has confirmed that criminal locomotives attacks have contributed to low usage of the Nacala Corridor, a railway line that transfers goods between Malawi and Mozambique’s Indian Ocean Nacala Port opening access to regional and international markets.

Andrew Nthiko, spokesperson for Ministry of Transport and Public Works admits that despite rail transport being cheap and the Nacala Corridor being revamped, traders prefer using the Beira Port that has no rail route to import goods into Malawi.

The spokesperson says government has devised strategies to ensure safe and secure movements of people and goods on the Nacala rail route.

“We have introduced a toll-free line – 1718 – where any type of vandalism and theft can be reported to relevant authorizes,” Nthiko said.

He adds that government and the Central East Africa Railway (CEAR) has also identified hotspots of theft along the rail and placed cameras for easy tracing.

In a bid to facilitate continued use of the Beira Port, Nthiko says that the Malawi and Mozambique governments have agreed to extend the Limbe-Makhanga-Mutara railway line to the Sena line.

 “CFM of Mozambique has already secured funds to construct their 45 Kilometer line from Mutara. On the other hand, we have tendered for rehabilitation works for reconstruction of line from Marka to Bangula,” he says.

Nthiko further says that with the rehabilitation of the Nacala Corridor, government is optimistic that importers and exporters will start prioritizing rail transport when transferring goods.

“We hope to see people change their attitudes towards this mode of transport,” he explains.

Malawi is a landlocked country. As such, improving regional transport network is a necessary condition for both the country’s competitiveness as well as for improved regional and global economic integration.

Malawi’s rail operator Central East African Railways (CEAR) says it is making substantial progress in the the rehabilitation exercise for the Limbe-Makhanga railway line that was damaged by devastating floods in 2015.

CEAR Spokesperson Chisomo Mwamadi said in an interview that contractors who are working on re-installing the railways have completed 50% of the works.

Mwamadi explained that Limbe-Luchenza stretch of the railway is expected to be finished by April 2021.

He said CEAR has planned to rehabilitate a 72 km rail stretch from Limbe to Sandama while the rest of the line will be rehabilitated by the government.

Mwamadi said the Limbe-Luchenza rail rehabilitation exercise was divided into two phases with Phase 1 covering Limbe to Nansadi segment now 75% completed and Phase 2 covering the Nansadi-Luchenza stretch which is at 50%.

The works underway involve placing of ballast, replacing of bridge wooden sleepers, temping and bridge works at Nansadi.

Other works will include earthworks, installation of rails and track assembly.

Mwamadi, however, bemoans the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic saying it resulted in a five-month suspension of the works which has weighed in on the scheduled completion period.

He, nonetheless, said that CEAR has put in place strategies to speed up the rehabilitation exercise which will open up business in areas along the railway, which is a cheaper mode of transport compared to road transport currently widely used in Malawi.

Malawi’s Ministry of Transport and Public Works has issued new regulations on public transportation as one way of preventing the spread of the global coronavirus pandemic.

This development comes barely a week after the Malawi government declared a national state of disaster and banned gatherings of more than 100 people.

The Ministry has set out some limitations and directives to public transportation on water, rail, road and air.

On rail transport, the Ministry has limited the number of passengers in the economy class section from 90 to 40 and from 52 to 28 passengers for the business class. Road transportation service providers have been directed to reduce the number of passengers to 60 % and water vessels are to reduce passenger capacity to 50%.

According to the press release signed by the Minister of Transport and Public Works Ralph Jooma, all international flights are suspended effective April 1, 2020.

“All international flights are suspended effective 1st April 2020 except for those aircrafts carrying health personnel, essential health equipment, emergency relief items, returning residents and cargo,” reads the press release

All public transportation service providers have since been directed to disinfect their cars and vessels before the commencement of any trip and to make sure that passengers wash hands before boarding a ship, bus or train.

The Ministry has further directed public transport service providers to have all their crew wear protective face masks and not to allow passengers carry any animals on any public vehicles.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also said that no public transportation service provider should allow any passenger showing general symptoms of COVID-19.

“Those with common flu and showing general symptoms of COVID-19 should not be allowed to use any public transport service,” says Jooma.

He says government inspectors have been deployed to enforce the implementation of the measures.

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development says it will in April this year start implementing the Enhanced Public Works Pilot Programme (EPWP) under Phase IV of Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) project.

The Ministry will implement the eight months’ programme through the National Local Government Finance Committee.

Executive Director of the National Local Government Finance Committee Alufeyo Banda explains in a Press Statement that Malawi Government will implement the public works programme with funding from the World Bank and the German Government through the German Technical Cooperation(GIZ).

Banda states that the objective of EPWP is to enhance the effectiveness of the regular public works programme which was implemented in 35 Local Authorities in the country by addressing key challenges faced during the implementation works.

He says some of the challenges include; lack of capacity for frontline staff which affected their ability to deliver quality supervision, non-adherence to sector norms and standards which led to poor quality community assets, lack of community ownership for public works programme assets and inadequate supervision and monitoring of resources by council officials.

The public works programme will be piloted in 10 districts of Blantyre, Balaka, Chiradzulo, Chitipa, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Nkhotakota and Phalombe.

In selecting the districts, the pilot considered several factors including poverty levels and food security, degree of land degradation and availability of the Unified Beneficiary Registry (UBR) data.

“The targeted number of the EPWP is 10,000 participants in a phase in all the 10 districts with 1,000 participants per district. The 1,000 will be selected from 5 micro-catchments in each of the 10 districts with every micro catchment not exceeding 230 acres,” Banda says.

The EPWP will focus on land resources conservation as its aim is to contribute towards conserving natural resources.

Participants will work for 12-days a month and receive a safety net wage paid bi-monthly.

In addition, 4000 beneficiaries will be linked to sustainable livelihoods interventions to enhance their capabilities.

“Sustainable livelihoods interventions will be implemented through a strategic linkage to the Community Savings and Investment Promotion Programme (COMSIP) and the District Community Development Office in the pilot districts,” says Banda.

Government is advancing with preparations to start rehabilitation of part of M1 Road from Kamuzu International Airport road junction to Mzimba Turn-Off, and the Kacheche-Chiweta section.

Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Joseph Mwnamveka announced in his presentation of the mid-year National Budget Review that Government has finalized financing agreements for the road project totaling K140 billion with the European Investment Bank and the European Union (EU).

“Works on this road are expected to commence anytime soon as procurement of the contractor is at an advanced stage,” said Mwanamveka. 

He also said government has signed a 27.2 Million units of accounts loan agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the Liwonde-Nsipe road project, which is part of the Nacala Road Corridor Project, and procurement of a contractor for the road project is underway.

He said government allocated $47.9 billion to Roads Fund Administration for the completion of various road projects.

“I wish to emphasise that the focus of Government is to provide resources to finish existing projects rather than embarking on new ones,” he said.

The Minister reported significant progress on the Njakwa-Livingstonia road where completion of the second phase is expected to end by June this year.

Other road projects in progress include Ntcheu-Tsangano- Neno- Mwanza road which is expected to be completed by October this year and Nkhotakota- Dwangwa road rehabilitation expected to be completed by September this year.

Government is also in discussions with a number of donors for the financing of the Salima -Nkhotakota road, Jenda – Edingeni road, Mangochi – Makanjira road, the Lirangwe -Chingale – Machinga -Liwonde road, the Nambazo – Nasiyaya – Mswang’oma road, the Nkando – Mulomba – Phalombe road, and the Balaka – Chilipa – Mangochi road, among others.

Among other infrastructure developments, Mwanamveka said government has signed

loan agreement of US$90.0 million with the World Bank for the Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Schools Project.

“The project has already commenced,” he said.

The Japanese Government will finance the long awaited construction of a dual carriage way from Lilongwe Hotel to Lali Lubani Road Junction.

CEO for Lilongwe City Council John Chome says in a statement that the Council in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and the Roads Authority have started the process to remove structures, trees and relocation of services such as water pipes, sewer lines, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) poles, street light poles and telecommunication cables, that are in the path of the road expansion project.

The Government wants to turn the section of the M1 road in the city of Lilongwe into a dual carriage way in order to overcome the problem of traffic congestion in the Capital City.

The plan to construct of the dual carriage way comes after Government completed the construction of the Lilongwe City West By-Pass road, which was constructed with financing from the African Development Bank with a similar aim of reducing congestion in the City.

The Japanese Government also financed the expansion of the Chipembere Highway in Blantyre into a dual carriage way.

The European Union (EU) says Malawi needs to invest more in the transport sector if the country is to realise advancements in economic transformation.

Head of EU Delegation to Malawi, Sandra Passen, said poor road conditions pose a serious threat to international trade, local business development and Malawi’s overall economic growth.

The Ambassador was speaking at a signing ceremony of a K34 billion Loan Agreement between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Malawi Government for the M1 Road Rehabilitation Project.

The road project, starting from Kamuzu International Airport junction in Lilongwe to Mzimba Turn Off targets rehabilitation of 301km of priority sections of the road identified as having the highest impact in facilitating trade, eliminating bottlenecks, and reducing road fatalities.

It will serve to enhance Malawi’s connectivity, boost regional trade and ease the movement of goods and people along the North-South Corridor.

Passen said ” EU is contributing K 34 billion from our African Investment Platform (AIP), which will be managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) through a so called blending operation whereby EU grant funds are blended with loans from financial institutions. The project is also complemented by the rehabilitation work under the World Bank loan.”

She, however, said there is need for Malawi to embrace “a robust financial and operational policy to build long-term sustainability with efficiently managed revenues and timely preventative maintenance in the quest to achieve transport linkages.”

“Private sector investment in the sector is important and we need to broaden economic participation in transport services and improve competition,” she said.

The M1 road is an important transport link for the agriculture sector and its rehabilitation will support the market for agricultural produce.

The M1 Road Rehabilitation Project is one of three projects under the European Union’s flagship initiative for Africa, the External Investment Plan (EIP), as other projects are the Mozambique-Malawi 400 kV Interconnector being implemented by German Development Bank (KfW) and the planned rehabilitation of the Nsipe-Liwonde Road, which is part of the East-West Corridor, to be implemented by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Currently, Malawi will have the first ever interchange- that will replace the area 18 roundabout in Lilongwe as government is constructing a dual carriage way stretching from Parliament roundabout to Bingu National Stadium round about.

Statistics indicates that Malawi has a road network of about 15,451 km, according to the Malawi Roads Authority 2016 coverage, of which only 30 percent are paved and the rest are unpaved and mostly in earth standard.