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Growing Sustainable Business Malawi


In an effort to strengthen its capacity to facilitate investment, the Malawi Investment Promotion Agency (MIPA) is implementing the Growing Sustainable Business (GSB) programme with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In line with the Government of Malawi’s strategy of poverty reduction through sustainable economic growth, the GSB programme aims at attracting pro-poor investment and business to Malawi, thereby bringing new employment opportunities and needed goods and services to the poor.


The GSB programme consists of two components:

1. Facilitating pro-poor investment to the country

  • Jan Willem van den Broek, the GSB Broker, will assist MIPA in identifying pro-poor investment opportunities, developing innovative business models, brokering partnerships between key stakeholders on selective projects, and marketing those projects to both local and international investors.

2. Building capacity at MIPA

  • MIPA’s capacity to promote, attract and facilitate investment will be improved through the adoption of best practice standards in its business information/investment resources, communications/outreach, and investment service activities.

  • In addition, a GSB Project Development Analyst will assist MIPA in developing feasibility studies, business plans, and company profiles;

  • while a Business Development Analyst will assist MIPA in carrying-out industrial audits and facilitate industrial linkages between large companies and SMEs.

It should be noted that the GSB programme is a global initiative. While new to Malawi, GSB is currently operating in nine African countries, including neighboring Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique, as well as nine countries in Central America, Asia, and Eastern Europe with ambitious plans for expansion. The global initiative has facilitated a large number of investments, ranging from rural telecommunications to the provision of finance for small and medium size enterprises. The global GSB portfolio includes investments ranging from US $200,000 to US$23 million.

The programme was introduced to Malawi in February 2007 and will run until the end of the year, subject to a five-year extension.

For additional information on GSB please visit the global GSB website: www.undp.org/business/gsb/