RBM projects growth for mining, manufacturing

The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has projected a 3.2 percent growth for the mining and quarrying sector in 2016 on the assumption of continued growth in traditional mineral outputs and mineral exploration.

This year, the sector grew by two percent unlike in 2014 when it shrunk by 4.6 percent.

Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining spokesperson responsible for mining issues Levy Undi says as part of regulating the sector and ensuring that it is efficient, government will, among other things, migrate to Mining Cadastre Administration System (Mcas), a web-based software application that supports governments in mineral rights management.

Undi also said to boost the sector, government is to increase electricity capacity from the current 351 megawatts (MW) to 1 550 MW by 2020.

Apart from the mining sector, RBM in its 2015 Third Quarter Financial and Economic Review released last Monday, said manufacturing sector is projected to grow by 4.3 percent in 2016.

While construction sector gowth might hit 6.7 percent in 2015 from 4.8 percent in 2014.

Growth in the sector this year was boosted by the completion of the construction of the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe as well as an increase in donor driven projects.

In 2016 the sector is expected to grow by 4.2 percent.

The growth of economic sectors in the country have been hampered by erratic power supply and a volatile kwacha, among others, according to Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) flagship Malawi 2015 Business Climate Survey Report.

MCCCI president Newton Kambala told Business Review recently that, apart from erratic electricity, the business community in Malawi is failing to do well due to high cost of finance and government policies.

But Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe has challenged the private sector to take the leading role in bringing positive change that would transform the country’s ailing economy.

“We all know that our economy is currently destablised.

“If we are to get out of this situation, it will all depend on how, as a country, we react. We need a vibrant private sector which can turn things around,” Gondwe said. n