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| Business |
| AfDB grants Malawi K15bn |
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by
Moses Michael-Phiri , 13 November 2006
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08:34:08
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Malawi and the African Development Bank (AfDB) group on Thursday signed an agreement for a grant of 15 million units of account (UA), an equivalent of US$22.2 million (about K15 billion ), to finance a smallholder crop production and marketing project in the country.
According to a statement released on Friday, AfDB group’s vice-president for sector operations Zeinab El Bakri co-signed the agreement with Malawi’s ambassador to Egypt Yahaya M’madi during a function held at AfDB headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia.
Commenting on the project to be financed with a grant from the African Development Fund (ADF), El-Bakri emphasised the importance AfDB attaches to portfolio quality improvement and the timely fulfilment of the grant conditions.
“As the Bank undertakes to support this operation, we look forward to working closely with the government to ensure its timely implementation and also build synergies with other Bank activities in the sector in order to alleviate poverty and increase the income of the population of Malawi,” she said.
In his remarks, M’madi commended the AfDB for its relentless efforts in supporting Malawi’s development programmes.
“We do not take this gesture for granted. The Government of the Republic of Malawi would therefore like to assure you that it will continue to follow the laid down procedures in implementing Bank-funded projects,” he said.
The project comprises the development of irrigation and the mitigation of environmental impact as well as support to farmers in crop production, management and marketing.
It will cover 19 of Malawi’s 28 districts, namely, Balaka, Chikwawa, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mchinji, Mzimba, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Ntchisi, Rumphi and Zomba.
It will also contribute to poverty reduction and food security in rural Malawi by increasing productivity and income of rural households.
The estimated number of beneficiary households is 8,756 or a total of 45,531 people out of which 4,000 are female-headed households. About 76 percent of Malawi’s rural population will benefit, directly or indirectly, from the market improvement activities.
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