PRESIDENT CHAKWERA UPBEAT ABOUT INDUSTRIALISATION DRIVE

President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has expressed optimism on the industrialization drive his administration initiated in 2020saying it is now bearing fruits with investor confidence on the high as evidenced by big businesses getting established.

He was speaking today in Limbe, Blantyre during official commissioning of Bakhresa Soya Extraction and Vegetable Oil Refinery.

“What this factory does is to make Malawi a producer of export-quality bread flour, because the production of 500 metric tons of bread flour that happens here every day is what Malawi 2063 means by productivity. What this factory does is to save Malawi millions of dollars in forex because of all the things made here that we do not have to import from other nations,” said the President.

The US$100 million project has employed 500 direct workers and created thousands other jobs along the value chain in form of transport and logistics and other support services.

The facility will also offer a competitive market for soya farmers who now have an off-taker for their produce because the company will need as much as 180,000 tons of soya every year. It has a daily production capacity of 500 metric tonnes for soya beans crushing and 100 metric tonnes for oil refining.

In addition, government is assured of increased tax revenue and forex owing to the fact that the new facility is export-oriented besides the primary goal of satisfying the local market.

President Chakwera also reiterated his government’s commitment to empowering the private sector through greater collaboration.  

“So what I plan to do is to facilitate the investment of companies like Bakhresa in the productive capacity of our farmers, even if it means contracting our farmers and helping them mechanize their operations to increase yield. But the bottom line is that my Government wants to give companies like Bakhresa an opportunity to grow by helping to grow the capacity of our farmers. That is what will be the game changer.”