Gerald Kampanikiza, News Reporter
Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola disclosed that many OPEC Fund members have expressed interest in assisting the Malawi government more in a variety of areas, including agriculture, health, and education in addition to the energy industry.
Matola said this after being involved in various meetings with the OPEC Fund member countries at the OPEC Fund Development Forum where he relayed President Lazarus Chakwera’s message on Malawi’s appreciation of long-standing partnership with the OPEC Fund and for the support in several projects which are now closed.
“To date, the Opec Fund has supported various projects in Malawi totaling approximately USD226.5 million and while appreciating and acknowledging this support, I took an opportunity to ask for more support especially in building disaster-resilient structures for electricity generation and distribution,” Matola said.
He further said the aspirational resilient growth path for the energy sector is anchored mainly in the design of energy infrastructure to better withstand climate shocks and support the same aspirations of reaching 50% electricity access by 2030 which will be achieved through building back better for existing infrastructure and enhanced climate- sensitive designs for future infrastructure.
“Malawi, just like any other country in the world, is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, natural disasters such as floods and drought have intensified in both frequency and intensity in the country mostly affecting Agriculture and energy sectors,” he said.
According to Malawi, the loss of 130MW due to Tropical Cyclone Ana is just one indication of how badly the country is being impacted by climate change in energy sector, as such, increasing adaptive capacity and building climate resilience of Malawi as a country in these sectors is paramount.
