By Priscilla Phiri and Sheminah Nkhoma
President Lazarus Chakwera has expressed satisfaction in his four years of administrative achievements towards moving Malawi forward to self-reliance at the opening of the 51st Session of Parliament and 2025-2026 Budget which took place at the August House in Lilongwe on Friday.
In his speech during the State of National Address (SONA), Chakwera asserted that throughout his four years in leadership as President of the Republic of Malawi, the country has gone through a painful surgical shift which has in turn proven to yield tremendous results in the country.
He outlined several developments that his administration has delivered in four years of his leadership including education, health, water and sanitation, and energy among others.
In terms of agriculture, Chakwera mentioned that in four years, his administration has managed to provide food security to Malawian households even in the toughest weather conditions across the country through initiatives such as El Nino Lean Season Support among others.
“Karonga suffered serious dry spells in 2023, which destroyed over 10,500 hectares of rice and over 8,500 hectares of maize. Leaving over 38,500 families in Karonga without food overnight. So, what we have done in four years is to ensure Karonga has a backup plan for growing food in and out of season, even when it does not rain,
“We have done this by rehabilitating four previously neglected irrigation schemes, namely Wovwe, Hara, Chonanga and Ukanga for both maize and rice production, which should benefit from the Nthola-Ilola Rice Scheme where we have installed a rice-milling plant that is fully operational,” he said.
He further mentioned that farmers across the country have benefited greatly from the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) among other initiatives which have enabled them to procure fertilizer and other farm inputs at a low price.
Chakwera also said his administration has also made remarkable progress in infrastructure development such as schools, hospitals, roads and bridges among many which are set to usher Malawians to sustainable economic growth.
“We have completed and operationalized the One-Stop- Border Post, reducing customs clearance time by 70 percent in Mwanza, set up a one-stop border post in Likangala, Phalombe to enhance security and boost revenue collection,” he stated.
Economically, Chakwera stated that his administration has improved access to business loans through National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF), Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) and Climate Smart Cash Support to boost agriculture and businesses in the country and extended to raising civil servants’ salaries to alleviate the financial burdens that came with the country’s economic challenges.
Chakwera revealed his plans to transform Likoma Island into a world-class tourism hot spot that will be utilized as a tool to generate forex through foreign investor agreements that have been made.
“As we work on developing new vessels for our lake, Madam Speaker, I am committed to ensuring that the investors from Germany and the Middle East involved in this project are fully incentivized to fulfil this promising venture. The vision includes a city teeming with tax-exempt resorts, hotels, casinos, and banks backed by our precious metals like gold, which will support a thriving crypto Stablecoin market linked to USDC and USDT cryptocurrency markets worldwide, ultimately enhancing US Dollar liquidity in Malawi,” elaborated Chakwera.
The President went further to reaffirm his vision of advancing the country’s development in years to come by saying what he has achieved in the four years of his leadership is proof of his commitment to self-reliance in Malawi.
In an interview, the President of Economics Association of Malawi (ECAMA), Bertha Bangala Chikadza, said she expects to hear more from the 2025-2026 upcoming budget meeting on the future of Malawi’s economy.
“We believe that the budget will be in line with the Malawi Implementation Plan (MIP1) and we expect to see more on employment and human productivity since the economy is unstable so the productive sector needs to have more investment,” she said.
