By Edwin Mauluka

The Saudi Fund for Development has pledged USD20 million towards the construction of the Blantyre District Hospital and also signalled support for the Makanjira Road project in Mangochi.

Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Decentralisation, Joseph Mwanamvekha confirmed the development after meeting a delegation from the Saudi Fund in Lilongwe.

“We are excited because it means that the Saudi government is ready to support the Blantyre District Hospital and other projects like the Makanjira Road in Mangochi,” Mwanamvekha said.

He described the support as timely, saying it would help revive and speed up projects that had stalled.

The visit by the Saudi Fund delegation follows Mwanamvekha’s trip last year to four Gulf countries — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates — where he sought financing for development projects in Malawi, including support for fuel imports and foreign exchange reserves amid the country’s economic difficulties.

Saudi Fund senior loan operations expert for Africa, Ahmed Almaghyuli, said the USD20 million hospital project will be co-financed with the Kuwait Fund.

Almaghyuli said the Saudi Fund was aligning its support with Malawi government priorities.

“We are focusing on the priorities of the government of Malawi. So if their priority is health, roads or education, we are participating in those priorities. And we are planning to expand our participation in Malawi,” he said.

He said the Fund had previously financed three completed projects in Malawi, including Phalombe District Hospital, which was co-financed with the Malawi government.

The delegation, currently on a fact-finding mission, is expected to meet officials from the ministries of finance and health before visiting the proposed project site.

Director of Infrastructure Development in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sanderson Kuyeli, said the total cost of the Blantyre District Hospital project is estimated at USD32 million, with construction expected to begin in the 2026/27 financial year.

“We are hoping that by mid-June we will be ready with the consultants who are working on the design so that we can submit all the required documents to the Saudi Fund in time,” Kuyeli said.

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