Govt scales down coal power project - The Nation Online

Govt scales down coal power project - The Nation Online: Govt scales down coal power project Martha Chirambo December 26, 2018 0 Comments Malawi has scaled down the 300 megawatts (MW) Kam’mwamba Coal-Fired electricity generation project in Neno following the financiers’ decision to reduce the loan amount. Beijing, the financier of the project, has asked Lilongwe to reduce the loan amount for the implementation of the coal fired plant project from about $700 million (about K513 100) to around $500 million (about K366 500).

Pessimism on 2019 economic outlook | The Times Group

Pessimism on 2019 economic outlook | The Times Group: Commentators say Malawi’s economic outlook remains mixed and murky with some prevailing macro-economic challenges likely to persist.

The view comes as the World Bank predicted that the local economy would swell by 4.1 percent in 2019, an improvement from an estimated 3.5 percent growth in 2018.

Malawi taps 20 Megawatts into national grid from Zambia - The Maravi Post

Malawi taps 20 Megawatts into national grid from Zambia - The Maravi Post: The Chipata Mchinji 33 KV cross-border power supply line has been switched on.

This means Malawi has added 20 megawatts to its grid, a development which is expected to improve electricity supply in the country.

Mkango rare earths project results now fed into resource programme

Mkango rare earths project results now fed into resource programme: now fed into resource programme
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15:09 10 Dec 2018
Mkango Resources Ltd (LON:MKA, CVE:MKA) tells Proactive London that the final batch of results from the 2018 drill programme, at the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi, has unearthed the highest grades to date. CEO William Dawes explains how those results will now be fed into a resource programme as he looks forward to their technical report unlocking Mkango's next tranche of funding.
Mkango said that the results of the majority of the remaining holes (19 of 21) from the 10,900 metre drill programme saw significant zones of rare earths mineralisation grading above 1% total rare earth oxides (TREO).

Economist  Malawi Growth Forecast (Dec 9 2018)

Economic growth After accelerating to 4% in 2017, on the back of a bumper harvest, economic growth will have slowed to 2.1% in 2018. Farmers had already reduced their maize plantings for the 2017/18 growing season (October-April), as a ban on maize exports caused a glut on the local market and losses on their sales. However, problems have been compounded by pest damage and insufficient rain. As a result, the latest official estimates point to a 28% contraction in maize output in 2017/18. Drought has also affected the production of other key crops, including rice. Assuming a return to more plentiful rainfall, 2019-23 should be stronger years for maize. Plans to expand other cash crops, such as soybeans, tea and sugar, are expected to have some success, helped by the eventual introduction of some pro-market reforms in the agricultural sector, which accounts for nearly 30% of GDP. This will be an important force behind an annual average real growth rate of 4.6% in 2019- 23. However, one major drag on growth will be the tobacco sector; production is set to register little or no growth during the forecast period, as a quota system introduced in 2017 by the Tobacco Control Commission in order to support prices is likely to be retained. In the power sector, frequent load-shedding and outages will remain a problem, even though water levels at dams should improve as the forecast period progresses. Electricity shortages will constrain industrial performance, only partly ameliorated by diesel generators. Rising aid inflows and public capital investment will be important growth-drivers for construction activity as the government seeks to expedite projects that address the country's infrastructure deficit. Growth elsewhere in the industrial sector is, however, expected to remain fairly lacklustre. Coal output will stabilise and improve slightly after recent contractions, but the sector is unlikely to re­emerge as a key driver of growth—particularly given a forecast decline in global prices in 2019-23. Malawi's mines will also struggle to compete with their counterparts in neighbouring countries. Flue­curing for tobacco—another domestic use for coal—will not support growth either, as output of the crop will be stagnant. There is an upside risk that uranium production will resume during the forecast period, but as Malawi is a high-cost operating environment, it is unlikely that international prices will rise sufficiently to justify bringing the country's only mine, Kayelekera, back into operation. 

Dry mangoes factory to boost exports - The Nation Online

Dry mangoes factory to boost exports - The Nation Online: Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Francis Kasaila says the commissioning of dry mangoes factory at Malawi Mangoes company in Salima District is set to boost mango exports that will help the country realise foreign exchange and� create jobs. The minister said this when he commissioned the dry mangoes processing factory yesterday in Salima. He applauded the company for considering value-addition approach to mangoes for export which he said is in line with government’s export strategy.

Mkango Resources progresses on rare earths exploration - The Nation Online

Mkango Resources progresses on rare earths exploration - The Nation Online: Mkango Resources Limited, a Canadian-based mineral and exploration company, says it has started the� process to update mineral resource estimate. The exercise follows the completion of the final 21 drill holes from the recently completed 10 900-metre diamond drill programme at the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project.

Zambia power deal dilemma - The Nation Online

Zambia power deal dilemma - The Nation Online: News that Escom had signed a deal with Zambia to supply power to Malawi came with relief, but Malawians will continue to bear the brunt of persistent power shortage after Escom missed deadline to start tapping power from its western neighbour for the second time due to ‘tests’. As it stands, the development pins the country to the available 200-220 Megawatts (MW) that the Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) is generating

Bank says growth positive but weak - The Nation Online

Bank says growth positive but weak - The Nation Online: Despite making strides economically, the World Bank says Malawi’s current growth is positive but weak compared to the rest of the sub-Saharan Africa region.

In its 8th edition of the Malawi Economic Monitor (MEM) titled Investing in Girls’ Education to be launched today in Lilongwe, the World Bank says Malawi needs to sustain significantly higher rates of growth to improve its development prospects, including through increased investment

Escom in fresh bailout rebuff - The Nation Online

Escom in fresh bailout rebuff - The Nation Online: It never rains but pours for Escom as Treasury has yet again rejected its K58 billion bail-out request to enable the technically insolvent utility improve its operations and provide reliable power supply. Treasury’s fresh rejection of the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) demand follows a K58 billion request the parastatal made in May this year to improve efficiency. It Escom said it largely found itself in the precarious financial position after its split that gave birth to Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) on January 1 2017 as part of the Power Market Restructuring Programme aimed at improving efficiency in the market by, among others, creating separate power generation and distribution entities to spur investment in independent power producers (IPPs)

Private sector domestic credit surge - The Nation Online

Private sector domestic credit surge - The Nation Online: For eight months running, credit extended to the private sector continued to register positive growth with recent figures from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM)indicating that in September alone, private sector credit grew by K7.7 billion to K447.3 billion.

Comparatively, there was a growth of K1 billion and K19.7 billion in August 2018 and September 2017, respectively

Pact to mitigate risks on energy investments - The Nation Online

Pact to mitigate risks on energy investments - The Nation Online: Investment into the energy sector by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) is set to increase following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Friday between government and the African Trade Insurance (ATI) for Regional Liquidity Facility (RLF).

RLF guarantees energy companies’ access to finance to maximise returns on investments

Salima Sugar Factory output to rise by 167% - The Nation Online

Salima Sugar Factory output to rise by 167% - The Nation Online: Salima Sugar Factory output is expected to rise by 167 percent this year thanks to increased sugarcane production both on the company’s field and supplies from smallholder farmers. The figures show that output will increase to 12 000 metric tonnes (MT) from last year’s 4 500MT. The sugar company, whose investment is worth $90 million (about K68 billion), is a public private partnership (PPP)� between Indian investors, owning 60 percent and Malawi Government which owns the remaining 40 percent stake and operates under the Green Belt Authority (GBA).

Our Comment on IMF new agreement

According to the Times,Malawi on Thursday passed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) test as the fund’s executive board approved disbursement of $15.4 million under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme

The IMF report is a shame. You would expect that in a country as poor as Malawi the focus would be on economic growth and structural changes that shift the population from low to high productivity activity. Instead, our focus is in piling up reserve and apparently, we have "overperformed" in this respect by going over the standard 3 months of imports.  Accumulation of reserves is not a costless exercise. For one,  it affects your import of vital inputs in production and medicines. Priding oneself of accumulating reserve under our dire conditions is irresponsible. And it is perhaps not surprising that the IMF has sought to protect its reputation by calling that an "overachievement". They did not ask for that. The IMF points out that the growth rate will barely exceed population growth. We know that to make the slightest dent in poverty Malawi must grow at least 7 per cent.

The reward for all the pain is peanuts - $15 million for a country claiming to have $1 billion in reserves. Usually one accepts IMF condition hoping that the IMF money will be a catalyst to funds from other donors. Now, this is not the case in Malawi. The donor's problem with Malawi is "governance issues". more specifically corruption. Our Minister of Finance should be at the forefront in the struggle against corruption.

Malawi needs an investment-led adjustment but  the way our planners have handled the Nacala railroad (we still have no dry port) and the MCA power sector investment (we still have to begin the Neno coal power project and the interconnection to Caborra Bassa - all this despite a time lead of more than  five years - leaves doubtful they can mount such a strategy and  extremely frustrated and sad.

Mkango Intersects Highest Grade Mineralisation To... | Morningstar

Mkango Intersects Highest Grade Mineralisation To... | Morningstar: LONDON (Alliance News) - Mkango Resources Ltd on Monday reported the intersection of the highest grade of rare earths mineralisation to date at its Songwe Hill project in Malawi.

Mkango shares were trading up 5.4% at 8.75 pence each on Monday morning.

The rare earths exploration and development company said it completed a 10,900 metres diamond drill programme at the project, which consisted of 21 drill holes.

Tim Treadgold: Paladin rides the uranium wave - Stockhead

Tim Treadgold: Paladin rides the uranium wave - Stockhead: It would be an odd investment decision to buy shares in a mining company that has closed its mines but Paladin Energy is not an ordinary miner. It’s a proxy for the recovery in uranium, a rival with coal for the title of world’s least-loved commodity.

Once a darling of the mining world with a share price that reached $8.25 in early 2007, a time when uranium was selling for $US140 ($191) a pound, Paladin (ASX:PDN) then crashed to 5c in the middle of last year, a fall of 99.4 per cent, perhaps a record for an ASX-listed stock which has lived to tell the tale.

Kwacha mixed fortunes - The Nation Online

Kwacha mixed fortunes - The Nation Online: Despite remaining steady against the US dollar and Euro, kwacha lost value against pound in September 2018, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) statistics show.

RBM September 2018� Monthly� Economic Report indicates that the local currency traded at K732.51 per US dollar and K852.15 per Euro while shedding 1.1 percent against the pound to trade at K961.05.