A recent study by the World Bank on infrastructure development in Sub-Saharan Africa has shown that Malawi is one f the countries in the region lagging on infrastructure development.
According to the May 2018 report, Malawi is the weakest performer in electricity access and on public investment management.
The report notes that there is a positive and significant relationship between public investment management and the efficiency of public investment observing that relative to the international norm, some countries are clearly underperforming —which is the case of Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Mozambique, Malawi, among others,” read the report in part.
“Infrastructure is viewed as a crucial ingredient to foster growth and productivity. Amid the post–global financial crisis slowdown, Sub-Saharan Africa is in dire need to continue the growth momentum it experienced during the period of the Africa Rising narrative.
“There is room for improving the efficiency of public infrastructure spending (that is, the quality of public investment management systems and procurement methods), which, in turn, may increase the output multiplier of investment spending,” reads the report in part.
The development comes in the wake of the National Transport Master Plan launch which seeks to guide the sustainable development of a multi-modal transport sector for the next 20 years.
The Plan seeks to reduce transport costs and prices across all modes, improve the safety of transport infrastructure and services and enhanced and sustainable passenger and freight transport systems.
Government will continue with its efforts aimed at increasing the reliability and security of power supply and efficient utilization. Government has plans to improve and expand electricity generation capacity, power transmission and distribution systems, according to the 2018 Fiscal and Monetary Policy Statement.
