Better lives from broken boreholes: Pacific Limited transforms water access in Malawi

Among many rural families in Malawi, the struggle to access clean water has long shaped daily life, forcing women and children to walk long distances, lose productive hours, and rely on unsafe water sources that continue to threaten their health and wellbeing.

In Group Village Headman Poya, Traditional Authority Chitera in Chiradzulu District, 65-year-old Ketie Mbalu knows this reality too well.

Living with her two young grandchildren, she has had to endure a difficult routine that has left her household stretched and vulnerable.

Poya Communities enjoy safe water from a broken borehole

Between June and December 2025, Mbalu says she could barely attend to her farm work or her tomato business at Mbulumbuzi Market, as she was spending over five hours travelling to a neighbouring village just to fetch water.

“Some people vandalised all our four boreholes in our village. We hear they sell the spare parts in some major markets in Blantyre. This left us with no choice but to scramble for water at a borehole in neighbouring village”, said Mbalu.

We are no longer travelling long distances to fetch water- Mbalu

She added that many women in the area have been left with no option but to fetch water from unsafe sources such as shallow wells and streams, a situation that has increased the risk of waterborne diseases in households.

Her experience reflects a wider challenge across several communities in Malawi where broken boreholes have made access to clean water a daily burden, especially for women and girls.

It is against this backdrop that Pacific Limited has, over the past nine years, been working to rehabilitate broken boreholes and restore access to clean water in vulnerable communities across the country.

Founder and Managing Director of Pacific Limited, Faisal Aboo, says the initiative was inspired by the scale of water challenges affecting Malawians and the impact it was having on productivity and livelihoods.

“As a company we were compelled to embark on the borehole rehabilitation initiative in 2015 after realising how thousands of Malawians were struggling to access clean water. We realised that the challenge was hampering productivity of many Malawians,” said Aboo.

We are committed- Aboo

He further disclosed that the company has now repaired over 9,000 boreholes nationwide, describing it as evidence of both the magnitude of need and the urgency of expanding clean water access.

Aboo added that the demand for safe and reliable water remains high, calling on other private sector players to support similar interventions to ease the burden on communities.

The initiative has also drawn recognition from Members of Parliament in areas where the company has operated, who have praised its role in improving access to clean water.

Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha also acknowledged Pacific Limited’s contribution during the 2026 to 2027 national budget presentation, noting that its work in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector has supported broader national development efforts.

Pacific Limited, which operates in property development, construction, and tourism, says it remains committed to expanding its impact, with its borehole rehabilitation work continuing to bring relief to communities where clean water once felt out of reach.