MCC hails Dr Mutharika administration

Malawi President Ngwazi Dr Bingu wa Mutharika always making Malawians proud wherever he goes. Pic by Malawi Digest.

By Gospel Mwalwanda in New York, USA

Malawi State President Ngwazi Dr Bingu wa Mutharika on Tuesday held discussions with Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Acting Chief Executive Officer, Darius Mans.

Speaking to journalists after the audience at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, USA, Mans said he discussed with the president progress Malawi had made about eligibility for compact funding over the years “and where we stand” on completing preparations for funding by the MCC.

He said some years ago, Malawi was not eligible for compact funding and as a result “we agreed on what he called threshold programme to improve the country’s performance eligibility criteria.”

Thanks to progress that Malawi made and government’s overall reform programme, Malawi’s performance on the indicator improved, he said.

“As a result of improvement, in December 2007, the board of directors approved Malawi to be eligible for full compact funding and that is what we are working on,” said Mans, who was Director with the World Bank Institute (WBI) responsible for its programmes in WBI’s 45 focus countries worldwide before joining MCC.

“We have been working very diligently in cooperating with the government on its plans that have been developed through consultation in Malawi which prioritize, among other things, the energy sector.

“We had an opportunity to speak with the president about the progress made in preparing those investments for funding by the MCC,” said Mans, who was accompanied by Jerry Dutkewych, MCC Director, Country Relations, Department of Development.

The MCC is a United States government corporation based in Washington designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the word.

Mans said programmes that had been proposed to the MCC for funding included investments and rehabilitation of some of the existing capacity as well as attracting private partnership off the grid for producing energy.

“This is a very important investment programme that has been proposed to us because we recognize the importance of energy for household and also for the development of the private sector in Malawi.

At a business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) forum on Monday at the same venue, Mans expressed happiness to partner with Malawi in the country’s development endeavors.

“In Malawi, MCC finds a capable partner,” Mans told the forum which President Ngwazi Dr Bingu wa Mutharika also attended. He praised the president for fighting corruption, money laundering and bringing the rule of law.

He said: “This is not common, yet Malawi does it.”

Mans, however, said the lack of reliable electricity in the country was a major concern, adding his corporation was looking into how it could render assistance to alleviate the problem.

“We had good discussions about the work that has been done and work that remains. It is our intention to complete preparations as quickly as possible. There is some technical work that is still underway to complete detailed designs, feasibility studies for some of the projects- Mana/Malawi Digest.