Signed and sealed at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday, the agreements seek to jump-start cash spinning operations in mining and trade sectors that Malawi has identified as potential growth areas in its bid to revive the economy.

Facing serious shortages of foreign exchange, and high inflation and interest rates that have sent the economy into a tailspin, Malawi is searching for a way to build up its exports to boost up the depleted foreign exchange reserves.

The agreements, which also seeks to uplift levels in the education sector and diplomatic areas, comes following extensive discussions that have been taking place between Malawi and the gulf state, and have culminated into a working visit by the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan—who is also the Foreign Affairs Minister for the oil-rich nation that is the third largest economy in the Middle East.

According to Malawi’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nancy Tembo, the development is part of the government’s efforts to set into motion its Agriculture, Tourism and Mining (ATM) strategy, whose potential is seen as key economic growth areas.

“We are moving towards Agenda 2063, and you know it yourselves that in the president’s vision, his priority are the ATMs, and so this moves us towards 2063,” Tembo said in reference to the five agreements that have been signed between the two countries.

She added that government will take advantage of the bilateral cooperation with the UAE to step up efforts to explore better ways of benefiting from the country’s high value natural resources such as rutile, uranium and bauxite amongst others.

Recently, the world’s largest known rutile deposit and the second largest natural graphite deposit were discovered in Kasiya in the Lilongwe plain. Being developed by Sovereign Metals, the Rutile-Graphite Project is said to have the potential to become the world’s largest producer of rutile, a key titanium feedstock.

Commenting on the much-anticipated government to government fuel deal that Malawi has been negotiating with the United Arab Emirates in a bid to address the fuel shortages that for months have been choking the economy, Tembo said that part of the deal was not on the table during the Tuesday meeting.

But she added that discussions to that effect were on course. Said Tembo, “The fact that we did not sign an MOU on the fuel does not mean we are not discussing. We are discussing, two weeks ago a team just returned from Dubai where they were discussing issues of fuel, not just Dubai, we are also in discussion with the government of Saudi Arabia. We have been to Oman. So you cannot put all your eggs in one basket.”   

(Written by: Ayam Maeresa)