Malawi

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Monday 21st May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Lord’s involvement in and support for Malawi is well known, as is that of the Scottish Government. We very much welcome the peaceful and constitutional transition following the previous president’s death in April. Early discussions with President Banda, who is the second female head of state in sub-Saharan Africa, have been very encouraging and we look forward to working with her to resolve many of these problems. The noble Lord is absolutely right: she has shown a lot of initiative in moving various areas forward. I am sure that the Government of Malawi will raise with the Secretary of State the issues that the noble Lord has mentioned. The Secretary of State is looking carefully at how best to support Malawi. However, it is one thing to say things; it is another to make sure that certain changes are delivered.

[Lord Chidgey]

My noble friend will be aware that a step change in economic management and governance standards in Malawi is critical, not just to bring immediate relief to its people through the NGOs on the ground but to secure the release of some $750 million in grant aid, which is currently blocked and is clearly needed in the general budget and elsewhere. Importantly, securing investment to interconnect Malawi and Mozambique’s national grids, for example, which are essential to stabilising Malawi’s industry, must also be considered. What action is DfID taking with resident NGOs, such as World Vision and others, to ramp up financial accountability and good-governance standards in Malawi to ensure that inward investment such as that will start to flow?

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend is quite right to say that these issues need to be addressed, and poor governance is of course the root cause of much poverty. DfID is putting a considerable amount into seeking to address that issue, so that the Government of Malawi can be held to account—not least in the way that they manage their public finances, to which he referred. We are pleased that the new president is now talking to Mozambique about restarting discussions on the energy interconnector, which is encouraging and is important to industry in the area. However, first and foremost, it is important to try to address the economic problems in Malawi. DfID is in constant contact with Malawi, which is also in constant contact with the IMF. An IMF team is there right now.