Malawi has become the second Southern African member country of Africa Finance Corporation (“AFC” or “the Corporation”), Africa’s leading infrastructure development finance institution.
The accession of Malawi to AFC’s membership is a progression of the Corporation’s existing investment footprint in the country. AFC had previously acted as Joint Mandated Lead Arranger (MLA) and Lender for a US$60 million commodity trade finance facility to Meridian Consolidated Investments Ltd (Malawi), the integrated agricultural commodities trading group to finance Meridian’s fertilizer importation and sale in four Southern African countries.
Malawi’s accession also supports AFC’s membership expansion strategy into Southern Africa, and continued alignment of its country membership with its investment footprint. Malawi, which signed its letter of adherence on 8th March 2018, becomes AFC’s 18th member state. Other member states include: Benin, Cape Verde; Chad; Côte d’Ivoire; Djibouti; Gabon; the Gambia; Ghana; Guinea-Bissau; Guinea-Conakry; Kenya; Liberia; Nigeria; Rwanda; Uganda; Sierra Leone and Zambia.
Cumulatively, the Corporation has to date invested US$4.5 billion in projects across 28 African countries, and in a wide range of sectors including power, telecommunications, transport and logistics, natural resources, and heavy industries.
Andrew Alli, CEO of AFC, commented on the announcement: “We are delighted to welcome Malawi as a member country of the Corporation. Malawi has a rich pipeline of bankable investments in the infrastructure space, and we are looking forward to exploring these opportunities. We are confident our unique business offering across project advisory, project development and financing in our 5-specialist sectors will go a long way towards closing the infrastructure gap in the country”.
Dr. Goodall Gondwe, Malawi’s Minister of Finance, also commented on the announcement: “Malawi has an abundance of infrastructure projects with huge financial and social potential that will create benefits for all stakeholders, and close the country’s infrastructure gap. We are, therefore, honoured to join AFC, and become a member state of the Corporation. We look forward to further engaging with AFC’s management to support the delivery of critical projects across Malawi”.