Ten British firms have expressed interest to invest in Malawi following their recent fact-finding mission to explore investment opportunities.
Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) public relations manager Deliby Chimbalu said in an interview this week almost all of the investors expressed interest to come back to invest in the project they were interested in.
“It is a matter of government following up on the leads through Mitc,” she said, adding that Aggreko, a company that specialises in the provision of off-grid power supply from gas, diesel is interested to provide solution to the energy hurdles the country has been facing.
Chimbalu said the energy firm supports a range of industries from mining, oil, gas, manufacturing and utilities.
“It has big investments in Mozambique, South Africa, Ghana and many countries globally with capacity to generate 350 megawatts (MW) of power from gas,” she said.
Chimbalu said Aggreko submitted a proposal to Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) and Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining 15 months ago to provide emergency supply of electricity through diesel-powered generators.
She said Aggreko has the capacity to provide energy within six to eight weeks with power ranging from 100MW to 200MW.
Chimbalu said African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), a subsidiary of Old Mutual Group, experienced in energy and transport infrastructure projects, has also expressed interest to invest in the energy and transport sectors, particularly solar, wind and renewable energy and construction of roads.
She said the company which has establishments in South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria is expected to submit an expression of interest for consideration to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining.
Another firm, Mott MacDonald, a global consulting and engineering company working on the Shire River Water Catchment Project, has shown interest to invest in the Airport City Project in Lumbadzi, close to Kamuzu International Airport (KIA).
Chimbalu said other companies that have also shown interest to invest in Malawi include Greenheart Energy Limited, a renewable energy company, which is interested to offer electricity off the national grid, irrigation farming and water in the rural areas.
“Dawnus, an international civil engineering and building company, has shown interest to invest in roads, water-related projects that require heavy earth moving works and power plant civil works,” she said.
Dawnus promoter showed interest in Lilongwe Water Board’s (LWB) construction of network system from Kamuzu Dam to the main reservoir at Area 3 and across the city and also constructing a treatment plant with a capacity of 30 000 cubic metres.
“The promoter highly regarded this project and promised to secure funding for it and will engage a UK company called Biwater. “Dawnus will develop an outline proposal and submit to Lilongwe Water Board for further engagement,” said Chimbalu.
Other companies that have shown interests include the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and PW Mining International which is interested in the expansion of KIA, a project promoted by Airport Development Limited (ADL).
