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| Business |
| Aid crisis hits Mipa’s investment campaign |
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by
Ephraim Munthali, 22 September 2003
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19:03:53
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Malawi Investment Promotion Agency (Mipa) said on Monday that lack of donor aid and the absence of a real autonomy for the agency is affecting its efforts to attract foreign investors.
Mipa general manager Ted Kalebe said in Blantyre at a half-day workshop to sensitise the private sector on the agency’s ‘One-Stop-Investment-Centre’ status that since government took over funding of the investment agency after donors withdrew, financial resources from have been insufficient.
The World Bank, United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were Mipa’s main financiers before donors walked out three years ago..
Only UNDP has resumed funding, pumping about K23 million (US$220,000) for the 2003/2004 fiscal year.
Participants from the private sector raised concerns that Mipa takes too long to process investment information.
The ‘One-Stop-Investment-Centre’ status enables prospective foreign and domestic investors to deal with Mipa alone to get all approvals to cutout delays which act as disincentives.
Under this arrangement which came into effect in April 2001, Mipa is supposed to issue licences, permits, incentives, follow-up support required to establish and operate successfully any investment activity.
To achieve this, the agency has an approval committee which comprises several ministries and government departments like Immigration, Ministries of Finance and Lands, Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).
Garment and Textiles Association of Malawi (GTAM) chair Kentral Desai said logistics problems faced by Mipa are chasing away investors.
“I had two investors who I referred to Mipa but they lost interest because of delays. Right now I have two investors but I am not sure I want to take them to the same place,” said Desai.
Kalebe explained that apart from failing to fund the agency, government is also still clinging to responsibilities like land allocation, incentives and granting of permits, that can be done by Mipa and avoid delays.
He added that the agency is even failing to monitor whether foreign investors are indeed carrying businesses in areas that they indicated when they were applying.
Mipa officials claim that out of the 150 businesses that promised to invest in the country over the past couple of years, only half of them are on the ground.
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