The British High Commissioner to Malawi, Fiona Ritchie, has pledged her government’s commitment to always be there for Malawi and its people in times of crisis.
Ritchie further stated that her government is committed to working with the Malawi Government in lessening the impact of future climate shocks, such as floods and droughts.
She made the pledge in Lilongwe on Thursday during the coronation celebration in Lilongwe.
“Our aim is to move away from expensive annual humanitarian responses towards longer-term investments, which address the root causes of poverty and vulnerability in Malawi. We will leverage UK climate finance to help build the resilience of Malawi’s population and economy to shocks,” said Ritchie, citing Malawi 2063, which sets out the country’s goal to reach middle-income status by 2063.
She said UK is determined to play its part in helping to achieve this ambition.
At this point, Ritchie commended the incumbent government for the ‘difficult decisions it has already taken to address significant debt and foreign exchange challenges’.
“And we stand with Malawi as it makes the further structural reforms required to set the economy on a sustainable footing. Economic growth cannot be achieved by governments alone. The vast majority of all jobs in the world are created by private enterprise. It is by being economically active, and having a job, that citizens can improve their living standards and, importantly, to thrive on their own terms. A vibrant private sector is therefore essential to boost growth and prosperity in countries like Malawi. Ensuring that investors are treated fairly under the rule of law is critical to trade and investment and will help the private sector to grow,” she narrated.
She added, “For our part, over the next few years, the UK will increase our investments in supporting trade facilitation. I’m delighted to announce that implementation of the Value Chain component of our Malawi Trade and Investment Programme began this month. It focuses on catalysing investment into high value exports to diversify Malawi’s narrow export base and generate much needed foreign exchange.”
