The meeting with AARG officials
* AARG is a consortium actively involved in rail infrastructure and agriculture projects
* This is a company with familiarity of the African terrain having been involved with the Lobito Rail Project
* Which aims at accelerating cross-border trade and promote regional integration in SADC
By Duncan Mlanjira
On the sidelines of the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit in Texas, USA, President Lazarus Chakwera had an engagement with All-American Rail Group (AARG), a consortium actively involved in rail infrastructure and agriculture projects, which has expressed steady interest to explore opportunities in Malawi.
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The President reported this on his official Facebook page, saying one of his administration’s priority areas — “in the quest to transform Malawi is reintroduction of a robust railway system that anchors sustainable economic growth through job creation and reduced transport costs”.
“Part of that grand plan lies in identifying world-class investors that have expertise to build and manage modern rail infrastructure in the country,” he said while disclosing AARG’s interest to explore opportunities in Malawi.
“This is a company with familiarity of the African terrain having been involved with the Lobito Rail Project, which aims at accelerating cross-border trade and promote regional integration in SADC.
According to information on the internet, Lobito rail line runs from Angola’s Atlantic coast of Lobito, which is 1,300km long going eastwards to Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a connection to Zambia.
The President said due to AARG’s varied expertise, the country is also expected to engage them on investment opportunities in the agriculture sector, mainly mega farms: “In both aspects, the Group’s interest is fully aligned with both MW2063 vision and the National Transport Master Plan.”
Chakwera also reported that the US$350 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact 2, also known as Malawi Transport and Land Compact, is now in force and soon, construction will commence of four road corridors across the country under the Increased Land Productivity Project.
“Up North, there will be upgrading of the 67km stretch from Chikwawa (Rumphi) to Euthini (Mzimba); in the Central region from Mkanda (Mchinji) to Mwase/Linga (Kasungu) — a distance of 88kms and another 53kms in Lilongwe from Chileka to Chigwirizano via Phiri la Njuzi and Malingunde.
“The Eastern Region will see upgrading of the 79km-stretch from Chamtulo in Mangochi (off Golomoti to Monkey Bay road) to Mkutumula near Balaka Market in Ntcheu.
“The corridor roads will facilitate greater flow of agricultural products from farms to markets. Secondly, the Compact will build Malawi’s capacity in land management reforms to maximize land revenue both for rural farmers and the national economy.”
The President reported this after he and his delegation attended the official inauguration of the Compact in Texas and reciprocation, MCC chief executive officer Alice Albright will later this month visit Malawi for official ground breaking of one of these landmark projects.
Meanwhile, on his return from the US, Chakwera will stop over in Kenya for the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health (AFSH) Summit currently underway in Nairobi.
He is expected to link up with Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale, who is already there and according to Malawi Government official Facebook page, the Minister is quoted as saying the country is geared to ensure an improvement in fertiliser usage and soil management in the next two years, for greater results in the agricultural sector.
He said through policies and programmes put in place, Malawi will see a 25% jump in the usage of fertiliser as well as soil management, adding that this will see the country achieve food and nutrition security and tremendous economic progress.
“Currently, the policies and programmes that we have put in place will help increase production of organic fertiliser which is cheaper than chemical fertilizer,” he is quoted as saying. “Organic fertilizer improves soil health because it puts nutrients back into the soil.”
The report says the Summit, which has brought together all relevant stakeholders to highlight the crucial role of fertilizer and soil health in stimulating sustainable pro-poor productivity growth in African agriculture, will agree on an African Fertiliser & Soil Health Action Plan that will deliver concrete recommendations to be taken by African leaders in the next 10 years.
According to Kawale, Malawi has a lot of success stories and programmes that it may not even take 10 years to ensure that the action plan is implemented.
African Union (AU) Commissioner for agriculture, rural development, blue economy and sustainable environment, Josefa Sacko is quoted as saying Malawi is doing well in fertilizer usage with 96kgs of fertiliser used per hectare compared to other countries which are at an average of 40kg per hectare.
President Chakwera is expected to attend the Heads of State and Government’s AFSH meeting scheduled for tomorrow, which endorsed the Abuja Declaration on Fertiliser for the Africa Green Revolution in June 2006 — a continental strategy to reverse the worrying trend of poor productivity of the African soils.
The declaration focused on key targets required for agricultural growth, food security and rural development in Africa, with a focus on fertilizer, according to the government report.
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