The World Bank unveiled a $110-million package for roads, farms and health care, while Britain added about $37 million to its earlier $47 million aid scheme to shore up the economy.

  Under the late president Bingu wa Mutharika, most donors had suspended aid over concerns about his governance and disregard for democratic rights.

  Since his death in April, new President Joyce Banda has embarked on economic reforms, moved to repeal repressive laws and improve ties with donors.

  Sandra Bloemenkamp, World Bank country manager for Malawi, said much of its money would go toward fighting HIV.

  “Although Malawi is making progress in reducing adult HIV prevalence, at 10.6%, it still remains one of the highest in the world,” she said. “This project will help the national response to HIV and AIDS, and the priority objective of reducing the number of new HIV infections.”  The Bank will also help improve roads to expand transport for farmers.

  British minister for Africa Henry Bellingham said the new aid from London would also help the southern African nation’s health services and support a popular farm subsidy programme.

  He said that Britain wants Malawi, which gets 40% of its budget cash from donors, to “migrate from aid dependency to trade”.

  “Currently, our two-way trade is worth 58.5 million pounds ($91 million) per annum, and the balance of trade is in Malawi’s favour. My ambition is to see that figure doubled, with Malawi gaining more through trade than aid,” he said.

  He said he wants to see British firms invest in the former colony, “training people and transferring skills, expertise and technology”.

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Wed Jun 19 16:00:37 SAST 2013 ::

Jul 18, 2012

CheeseBoy

everytime you hear of the World Bank and IMF 'donating funds' then you know that country is in trouble.
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Oct 28, 2012

Mphatso

May I ask a question? Why does the Sowetan write articles as if they are from the west? What good is it to say "Malawi the impoverished nation...." as if the common feature of all our countries in SADC and the wider African continent isnt poverty? I have had the privilege of going to Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and have lived in Malawi, and honest to goodness, there are strikinh similarities. The only difference is that each country blames its poverty on a different discourse. In SA its all about the ANC, in Zimbabwe its the colonialists, in Malawi its the Banda dictatoriship, in Zambia its Rupia Banda's implementation of the structural adjustment programmes, in Tanzania its Julius Nyerere's overly ambitious rural growth centres strategy, and so on. But one thing common about these countries is poverty and poor leadership. can we be a little more respectful of that simple fact and stop stereotyping each other's countries based on things we all share in common? Cheers
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