Chakwera at IMF
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have pledged to fully support Malawi in areas of need as one way of addressing challenges Malawi is currently facing.
This was said when President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera held discussions with IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, and World Bank Managing Director, Axel Von Trotsenburg, in Washington DC on Wednesday.
Speaking in an interview, World Bank Managing Director said World Bank is ready to assist African countries and Malawi stands to benefit.
He said Chakwera’s government has good policies that would change Malawi and transform people’s lives hence the need for the financial support.
“The President shared some of the challenges which Malawi is currently facing. Malawi needs financial support now hence the need to build our partnership and brainstorm how best we can work together to bring out results on the ground,” Trotsenburg pointed out.
He indicated there is need to scale up support due to the fact that Malawi, like many other African countries, has been heavily affected by effects of climate change and COVID- 19 pandemic.
“That’s the reason why World Bank has been calling for much more support to African countries, hence this meeting with Malawi’s President is timely and crucial,” Trostenburg added.
He assured the President that Malawi stands to benefit a lot and called on government to build a strong strategy that would help the people to access clean water, quality education, good health systems and be food secured, among others.
Trotsenburg added that World Bank wants to be part of Malawi’s efforts that would see people’s lives improve in the years to come.
President Chakwera described the two meetings as fruitful and appealed for quick support for Malawi as the country is currently going through challenges due to crises and pandemics.
The discussion centered on the benchmarks Malawi was aiming to fast track the disbursement of US$ 1.5 billion which the World Bank has approved for different projects in Malawi.
The Malawi leader also held discussions on different key issues with IMF Managing Director in pursuit for credit facility for Malawi.
Chakwera continues to engage heads of various international institutions to lobby for financial support, strengthen collaboration and follow up pledges made in previous meetings.
Reported by Lisa Kadango Malango in Washington DC
