* Since assuming his office, governmment discovered high levels of lead in paint being sold on the Malawian market
* Resulting in the exposure of three million Malawian children to lead poisoning
* Not to say anything of the cost of treating lead-related illnesses to the tune of close to US$1 billion every year, which is over 5% of GDP
By Arkangel Tembo, MANA in New York, USA
President Lazarus Chakwera has hailed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for taking a leading role in facilitating the elimination of lead poisoning among children globally for a sustainable future generation.
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He made the remarks yesterday during a partnership for a lead-free future meeting, with the USAID delegation in New York, USA and he told the delegates that since assuming his office, governmment discovered high levels of lead in paint being sold on the Malawian market, resulting in the exposure of three million Malawian children to lead poisoning.
He stated that while millions of dollars are being poured into education, the outcomes of that education are being compromised by the impairment of children’s cognitive development caused by lead poisoning.
“Not to say anything of the cost of treating lead-related illnesses to the tune of close to US$1 billion every year, which is over 5% of GDP,” he said, adding that in the first year of his office, government committed the resources of the Malawi Bureau of Standards to collaborate with the Lead Exposure Elimination Project in providing stronger enforcement of lead paint regulations, including better testing facilities to detect lead in products.
“This measure alone resulted in the reduction of the market share of brands with lead paint by 50% within two years and secured the commitment of two-thirds of all manufacturers to go lead-free.”
The President then expressed Malawi’s commitment to joining the partnership for a lead-free future, to have access to the necessary international support to achieve such important benchmarks as identifying all key sources of lead exposure in Malawi.
Meanwhile, the President urged potential investors in the USA that Malawi is the best investment destination with resilient economic growth, stable and peaceful country.
He said this on Sunday evening at the Martinique Hotel in New York during a second edition of the Malawi-Partners Conference, held on the margins of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Addressing the potential investors, Chakwera said Malawi has 5.3 million hectares of arable land, representing 45% of its total land area; adding that the country has abundant water resources, coupled with several major river systems.
In addition, President Chakwera told the would-be investors that Malawi has access to a market of over 100 million people in the SADC and COMESA regions.
“We have a visionary, stable, democratic political leadership which are all key to creating an enabling environment for public and private funding investments in an open economy,” he said.
The Malawi leader said the country has also recently developed a one-stop service centre for investment and trade promotion through the Malawi Investment & Trade Centre (MITC), adding that the country has a large, highly educated, skilled, hardworking, trainable workforce.
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The Malawi leader further said the country is also a gold mine of agricultural experience, flooded with untapped specific projects and economic opportunities waiting to be explored.
Amid catastrophic climate and health-related shocks, Chakwera said his government continues to lay a solid foundation for Malawis prosperity.
“Malawi is not only a land of opportunities, but also a nation ready to meet the global demand for high-quality products. We have a web of rivers and lakes, and arable land that is fit-for-purpose of high-value agricultural production zones,” he said.
In attendance was Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi, who echoed his counterpart’s sentiment by assuring potential investors that Malawi is endowed with so many natural resources which he said are conducive for investment.
“I would like to agree with my brother here that just like in Malawi, agriculture also plays a critical role in Mozambique and Africa as a whole in terms of providing primary source of livelihood, and income to the majority of the population.
“I encourage you to come and invest in Malawi because they have what it takes in terms of marketing among others,” he said.
The first edition of the Malawi-Partners Conference was also held at the same venue and some of the fruits of the conference include the ongoing construction of the Magwero Industrial Park near Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) whose resources were committed by the Afreximbank at that time.
Other commitments from last years conference that have materialised include the World Bank-financed Regional Climate Resilience Program, IFAD-funded Sustainable Agriculture Productivity Program, and the Building Education Foundation Project that the Global Partnership for Education is financing.
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The 2024 edition of the Malawi-Partners conference was held under the theme; ‘Securing Our Future: Enhancing Investment in Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security’.
At the second-day plenary session of the Summit of the Future held under the theme; ‘Multilateral solutions for a Better Tomorrow’, President Chakwera emphasised the need for financing facilities that are more robust, and inclusive to help catalyse global development in developing countries.
He highlighted the need for leaders to put more effort so that by 2030 they should sustain the hope of young people and build sustainable solutions for the future generation.
“This Summit of the Future is not about us, but about the next two generation and their children. We must make this pact of the future relevant to all generations.”
He also indicated the significance of shifting from the provision of aid to the cultivation of self-sufficiency through robust private-sector engagement.
“We must nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of young people by empowering them with local industries,” said the President Chakwera, adding that there is need to reconfigure multilateral institutions to create a new architecture of global finance that reduces the debt burden of developing countries.
However, he expressed deep concern with conflicts around the world that remain unresolved stating the need to seek peaceful resolutions to disputes, for it is evident that the current multilateral system has proven significantly inadequate in resolving conflicts.
He also indicated that Malawi recognises the global utility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in terms of improving productivity and decision-making processes highlighting that the least developed countries (LDCs) are facing significant challenges in coping with the unprecedented technological advancement.
Chakwera further said the global world must make deliberate efforts to improve the capacity of LDCs to reduce the digital divide.
The Summit of the Future will serve as an opportunity for leaders and various players in development to amplify ideas that will allow countries to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.—Wrap up edited by Maravi Express
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