By Rosalia Kapiri:

President Lazarus Chakwera returned to Malawi from the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Tanzania with the message that the activity has offered a “tremendous boost” to the country’s energy and industrial ambitions.

Upon arrival at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe Wednesday, Chakwera was welcomed by government officials and, then, inspected a guard of honour mounted by the Malawi Defence Force.

He later addressed journalists, emphasising the significance of Mission 300 in advancing Africa’s energy sector goals.

“Mission 300, for Africa generally, is a milestone. For Malawi, it offers a tremendous boost,” Chakwera said.

The President said, for example, that the initiative would help Malawi achieve its power generation, transmission and usage goals, particularly in sectors such as agriculture and mining.

“It’s a boost because it will enable us to achieve our goals, in terms of power generation, power transmission and the usage of the same for agricultural industrialisation, production, value addition, all of the factors we need to have, and mining particularly—a sector that needs power,” he said.

Chakwera highlighted that the agreement provides nearly $300 million to kickstart the process, with Malawi playing a key role in it.

“I am happy that I was one of the signatories to this particular issue. Now, we have a stepping stone, as it were, to this M300, which is the essence agreement that we have, and we signed for that as well,” he said.

The President said Malawi’s team was recognised at the summit.— Mana