INVESTMENT UPDATE FOR 1ST QUARTER 2008
Blantyre, 08 May 2008 -MIPA approved a total of 28 new companies between January and March 2008. The total pledged investment for the 28 companies is USD 21,728,056.00. During the same period last year, a total of 16 new companies with a total pledged investment worth US$8.92million was registered. The notable increases during this quarter in the investment levels are attributed to the strong promotional efforts by the Malawi Investment Promotion Agency accompanied by achievements on the macroeconomic as a result of economic policies by the government. These improvements have set a platform to trigger more foreign as well as domestic investment in the country.
Investment by sector
Most of the new investment continues to be in general manufacturing. Of the 28 new companies that applied for an investment certificate in order to start their business, 14 are in the manufacturing sector, 4 in tourism, 7 in services and 3 in agriculture/agro processing
2352 new jobs are expected to be created by the new companies
Origin of Investors
Below is a table showing comparable origins of the new companies between the 1st quarter of 2007 and 1st quarter of 2008.
|
Jan-Mar 2007 |
Jan-Mar 2008 |
ORIGIN |
No. of Companies |
No of companies |
Malawi |
|
6 |
United Kingdom |
2 |
3 |
South Africa |
|
5 |
India |
3 |
2 |
Tanzania |
|
2 |
Canada |
|
1 |
Mainland China |
4 |
5 |
Netherlands |
|
1 |
Zimbabwe |
2 |
2 |
Lebanon |
2 |
|
Pakistan |
1 |
|
Egypt |
1 |
|
Burundi |
1 |
1 |
Enquiries
MIPA continues to receive a lot of requests from investors on processes for investing in Malawi and available opportunities. This information is given to investors directly by post, telephone or e-mail.
In addition to promoting general investment opportunities in the priority sectors, (agriculture, tourism, mining, manufacturing, infrastructure). MIPA is promoting specific projects by individual companies/promoters. (Please click on the ‘PROJECTS’ tab on this website for detailed information on these projects).
Below is a list of flagship projects that the Agency, through the UNDP Growing Sustainable Business project is promoting
GSB PROJECTS UNDER PROMOTION
PROJECT |
DESCRIPTION |
Cage fish farming on Lake Malawi |
Press Corporation / Maldeco is looking for a 50/50 joint venture partner in the USD 5 million fish fillet facility at their site in Mangochi. |
Ethanol Cook stove “SuperBlu II” |
About USD 800,000 investment required: for establishing a production facility to manufacture stoves and ethanol bottles. |
Cassava Starch |
Additional financing of USD 4.3 million required by the promoters – Warm Heart Food Company to construct a cassava starch factory in Lilongwe. |
Mzuzu Coffee |
Branding Malawi/Mzuzu premium specialty coffee and identifying new international markets. |
PROMOTIONAL EVENTS
Investment promotion involves a number of activities such as direct marketing in form of presentations to investors, meetings and site visits. MIPA was part of a Malawi delegation that made presentations at the Malawi Investment Forum in London organized by the Commonwealth Business Council on 3rd April 2008. The forum was attended by over 150 business delegates. MIPA hopes to receive a lot of enquiries from Britain following this forum.
- 2010 World Cup and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Championship Conference
MIPA also attended a regional conference for SADC Investment Promotion Agencies, Tourism Authorities, Tourism Associations, Chambers of Commerce, 2010 Local Organizing Committee and Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Gaborone, Botswana from 10 – 11 April 2008 The conference discussed opportunities that the two sporting events will have on the SADC region in general and the host countries in particular and how countries could maximize the potential benefits of 2010
Below are some of the identified opportunities
Prior to the games
Provision of services such as soccer advertising and sponsorship, promotion of national soccer teams, fans and football associations, supplying raw materials, tenders, contracts, events management, news media rights, catering services, transportation, broadcasting rights, soccer development, providing security, hosting FIFA officials, profile VIP visits, host international tour operators.
During the Events
Fans accommodation, transportation, fan festival organization, direct flight arrangements, match ticket selling, tour guides, foreign language abilities (German, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Russian), fan parks and public viewing places, hospitality and catering skills, volunteer services, music, bands, theatre, arts and crafts etc.
- Agro-Industry 2008 Fair - Tanzania
MIPA also market a number of investment projects at the agro-industry forum in Tanzania. The fair was held from 6 – 8 May 2008 in Dar es Salaam and was organized by the EU-SADC Investment Promotion Programme (ESIPP) to promote investment in the agro sector within the region. MIPA facilitated the participation of companies from Malawi to attend the forum. 12 projects from Malawian companies were approved by ESIPP to participate at the forum. These include Tambala Foods, Northern Dairies, Africa Invest, Omicron, Unicorn Superial Halaal, Nova Chicoa, D & S, Agma holdings Ltd, Trust Pork and Livestock projects
MIPA managed to secure funding from the IDAF project in the Ministry of Agriculture to sponsor representatives of 4 companies to travel to Dar es Salaam. The companies which received funding were Unicorn, Tambala Foods, Northern Dairies and Nova Chicoa. The Agro industry forum presented an opportunity for Malawian project promoters to discuss with their European and African counterparts a number of business collaborations such as joint venture partnerships, financing, technical expertise, etc
|
