Britain gives Malawi £20 million emergency funds

AFP: Britain gives Malawi £20 million emergency funds: "Britain gives Malawi £20 million emergency funds
(AFP) – 1 hour ago
BLANTYRE, Malawi — Britain will give Malawi £20 million ($32 million, 25 million euro) in "emergency budget support" to boost social schemes in the impoverished southern African nation, Malawi authorities said Friday.
The aid was "in recognition of the efforts the government has taken to fix the economy," the State House press office quoted Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, as saying in a statement."

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Malawi Government Committed in its Support to Fast Track Development at Britannia's Iron Ore Project - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee

Malawi Government Committed in its Support to Fast Track Development at Britannia's Iron Ore Project - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee: "Malawi Government Committed in its Support to Fast Track
LONDON, Nov. 29, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Britannia Mining Plc, a UK based mining development company [recently merged with U.S. based Micron Enviro Systems (Symbol: MSVS) – pending shareholder ratification] announced today, that Britannia Mining was invited to the Malawi High Commission in London "

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Mozambique: U.S.$ 1.2 Billion Dollars of Projects Approved for Nacala

allAfrica.com: Mozambique: U.S.$ 1.2 Billion Dollars of Projects Approved for Nacala: "Mozambique: U.S.$ 1.2 Billion Dollars of Projects Approved for Nacala
Maputo — The Mozambican authorities have approved private sector projects budgeted at 1.2 billion US dollars to be implemented in the Nacala Corridor, in the north of the country, according to Danilo Nala, general director of the Office for the Accelerated Development Economic Zones (GAZEDA), cited in Wednesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”.

Repair work on Nampula/Cuamba road in Mozambique finished within expected deadline | Macauhub English

Repair work on Nampula/Cuamba road in Mozambique finished within expected deadline | Macauhub English: "Repair work on Nampula/Cuamba road in Mozambique finished within expected deadline
NOVEMBER 16TH, 2012   NEWS
Work to repair and lay asphalt on the Nampula-Cuamba road, along a section of 348 kilometres that is part of the Nacala Development Corridor, is due to be finished within the expected deadline and be delivered in 2014, said the Mozambican deputy minister for Public Works and Housing."

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Malawi Changes Tobacco-Selling System to Move Away From Auctions - Bloomberg

Malawi Changes Tobacco-Selling System to Move Away From Auctions - Bloomberg: "Malawi Changes Tobacco-Selling System to Move Away From Auctions
By Frank Jomo - Nov 16, 2012 2:12 PM GMT

Malawi, the world’s largest grower of burley tobacco, is changing its system for selling the leaves to move away from the auction method now used to dispose of the entire crop.
The so-called Integrated Production System will enable farmers in the southern African nation to agree to grow the leaves for specific customers, according to a statement yesterday from the country’s Tobacco Control Commission. The government aims to carry out 80 percent of sales through the new system and the rest via auctions, the statement showed."

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Malawi, IMF agree new reform policies

Malawi, IMF agree new reform policies: "Malawi, IMF agree new reform policies
FRIDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2012 10:29 GABRIEL KAMLOMO AND THOM KHANJE
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said its mission that was in Malawi over the past two weeks has reached staff-level understandings with the Malawi government on policies for completing of the first review of its programme with the country.

The new policies include the scope of tightening monetary and fiscal policies to stabilise the exchange rate and contain inflation, IMF Mission Chief for Malawi Tsidi Tsikata told a press briefing in Lilongwe on Thursday"

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Air Malawi placed under liquidation

Air Malawi placed under liquidation: "Air Malawi placed under liquidation
FRIDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2012 09:58 TAONGA SABOLA

Government has placed the highly indebted national flag carrier, Air Malawi Limited, under voluntary liquidation and will instead establish a new company called Air Malawi (2012) Limited in which a strategic partner will be sought for co-investment into its operations."

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Malawi revises down growth forecast again

Malawi revises down growth forecast again: "Malawi revises down growth forecast again
THURSDAY, 08 NOVEMBER 2012 09:06 THOM KHANJE

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The Ministry of Finance has once again revised downwards the 2012 economic growth outlook for the country to 1.4 percent, a few weeks after the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) brought down the growth prospect to 1.6 percent from the earlier official estimate of 4.3 percent."

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Countries discuss uranium movement

Countries discuss uranium movement: "Countries discuss uranium movement
THURSDAY, 08 NOVEMBER 2012 09:06 KINGSLEY JASSI
Malawi alongside other Sadc countries such as Zambia and Namibia are planning to harmonise regulations on uranium transportation in order to ease hurdles when transporting the yellow cake.

This was disclosed by the Director of Environmental Affairs in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Aloysius Kamperewera, in Lilongwe on Monday when he opened a three-day State Systems of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material Workshop organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

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BP Mozambique spends US$7 million on renovation of Nacala fuel terminal | Macauhub English

BP Mozambique spends US$7 million on renovation of Nacala fuel terminal | Macauhub English: "BP Mozambique spends US$7 million on renovation of Nacala fuel terminal
OCTOBER 15TH, 2012   NEWS
BP Mozambique has invested over US$7 million on the Nacala fuel terminal, in Nampula province, said the Mozambican subsidiary of the BP group in a statement issued Sunday."

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Our Comment - 2

The exoected complete refurbishing of the Liwonde-Nacala connection will be  a significant event for the Malawi economy. The immediate effect will be it will lower the cost of Malawi exports and imports by 40 per cent. This will in turn significantly contribute to the improvement of Malawi´s competitivity. But this will not happen automatically. The government will have to be proactive in addressing problems of production.

There are three things that are a major constraint on Malawi’s exports.

The first is the low level of production of exportables.  Other than a limited number of agriculture products we have no industrial base for increased export of manufactured or processed  goods- This is partly related two other factors that the government must address: lack of skills and poor infrastructure. On skills, we need to dramatically improve the quality of education and training at all levels and expand the intake of institutions of secondary and tertiary education. We have wasted too much time argueing about sharing the little we have-the quota system debate.

As for infrastructure, the most obvious one is electricity. We have three projects that can radically improve our position. The first is the Cabora Bassa interconnectivity. We need to speed up this project. The second is the thermal plant to be built by a Chinese company. The final one is the Millennium Challenge Fund project to completely revamp the national power grid. The government should indicate to its partners that this is urgent and urged to push themselves further in effectuate the projects.

The final problem is domestic road network. Although Malawi is not the worst placed among landlocked countries it has high transport costs for its goods. A significant share of these costs is domestic because of the poor road network to centers of production of agricultural produce.  If we are to benefit from Nacala we must improve the road network within Malawi to reach rural producers everywhere. 

Malawi to cut freight costs by 40% with redone Nacala

Malawi to cut freight costs by 40% with redone Nacala: "Malawi to cut freight costs by 40% with redone Nacala
MONDAY, 05 NOVEMBER 2012 08:56 CAROLINE KANDIERO

Malawi is set to reduce its international freight costs by about 40 percent once the rehabilitation phase of the Nacala Railway line under the deal with Brazil's Vale Mining Company is completed in February next year, Minister of Transport and public Infrastructure Sidik Mia has said"

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Society IMF pledges continued support to bail out Malawi

Society IMF pledges continued support to bail out Malawi:

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