Chakwera promotes socio-economic dev't, health, tourism & digital transformation

Lilongwe, Malawi-President Lazarus Chakwera has been active in promoting various aspects of the country's development, including socioeconomic growth, healthcare, tourism, and digital transformation, in recent days, writes Winston Mwale.

Regarding the country's socioeconomic development, Chakwera met with the Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank, Ms. Anna Bjerde, to discuss how the Bank can support Malawi in the pursuit of resilience, recovery, and debt restructuring.

Chakwera announced, "Our deliberations covered a wide range of issues related to the socioeconomic development of Malawi... In response to the aforementioned inconveniences, the Managing Director announced a US$180 million emergency package to support Malawi in the recovery process."

The World Bank expressed pleasure in how Malawi continues to set good trends in terms of governance and gender inclusivity.

On the healthcare front, Chakwera celebrated the opening of the Lilongwe Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery (LION), which will improve the country's capacity in diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal and nervous system ailments.

Chakwera praised the partnership and level of coordination between the government of Malawi and other international stakeholders in realizing this state-of-the-art facility.

He expressed special thanks to Norwegian businessman and philanthropist, Mr. Trond Mohn, and his family for their enormous contribution towards the construction of the institute.

Chakwera stated, "We will continue cooperating with development partners in investing in the health sector so that we positively impact the socio-economic transformation of the country."

In terms of promoting tourism, Chakwera highlighted the success of the Takulandirani Malawi International Tourism Expo, which attracted new investments, recapitalized existing operations, promoted local and global networking, and positioned Malawi as a leading tourist destination to a global audience.

Chakwera emphasized, "Under my administration's tutelage, the country's tourism sector is and will continue to be supported through various interventions that attract viable investments as guided by the National Tourism Investment Masterplan... The government will also continue to invest in the construction of key infrastructure such as roads, rail networks, airports, and water transport as a way of complementing private sector investments."

Finally, in the digital space, Chakwera addressed the 6th Transform Africa Summit to advocate for an expedited, pragmatic, futuristic, and harmonized agenda in which African nations become active participants in the digital revolution.

He stated, "Our citizens should have affordable access to digital products and services, digital literacy, and improved digital infrastructure... Malawi, in our quest to become an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation by 2063, will remain a reliable partner within the Smart Africa Alliance to see our people benefit from the digital dividends via affordable connectivity and efficient public service delivery."