Finally, Malawi government has secured money for the implementation of the controversial Salima-Lilongwe Water Project which has stalled due to lack of funds.

Minister of Agriculture, irrigation and Water development, Joseph Mwanamvekha revealed during his visit to Lilongwe Water Board on Friday that the project is back on course.

“Lilongwe-Salima Water project is at advanced stage. What was remaining was to find a financer; now the Ministry of Finance has found a financer and are just finalizing the terms,” explained Mwanamvekha.

Mwanamvekha could not reveal the indentify of the financer but disclosed that aside securing the funding, government has to also seek a blessing from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the implementation of the project.  

“They (Ministry of Finance) need to consult the World Bank and IMF which am told it’s almost there, and the project should start as soon as possible.”

The Salima-Lilongwe Water project – whose contract was given to Khato Civils Limited that unveiled the multibillion Kwacha project in 2016 – was left out of the 2018/19 budget as government was yet to identify funding. Khato claims to have already invested $13 million (K9.8 billion) in the project.

Minister of Finance, Goodall Gondwe told the nation some months ago that the financing committee was taking time to ensure due diligence was done.

“Once this is done, we will seek the necessary waivers from the International Monetary Fund,” he said.

Meanwhile, feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment on the project have been completed and what was remaining is funding.