Malawi basks in grace as World Bank provides US$420m grant to strengthen resilience to water-related climate impacts

Malawi continues to sail in waters of grace as evidenced by the back-to-back grants the government is receiving from various development partners.

Latest grant is the $240 million (about K408 billion), which the World Bank has provided through its development finance institution, the International Development Association (IDA).

The grant follows the decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the country’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) thereby unlocking economic opportunities for Malawi.

Development partners stopped providing direct budgetary support to Malawi during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over concerns of abuse of public resources.

The World Bank, in a statement made available to the media, said the grant is aimed at helping the Government of Malawi to strengthen the country’s resilience to water-related climate impacts.

The Bank further says the grant will prioritise the management of Shire River basin, which is widely considered as important for Malawi and Mozambique, adding that the resources will be used to support the Regional Climate Resilience Program for Eastern and Southern Africa, a 10-year programme that seeks to protect people from exposure to water-related climate shocks by developing protective and resilient infrastructure, improved disaster risk management, and social protection systems.

The statement adds that the statement will also enhance coordination between Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique in improving early warning systems and sharing information, as these countries are often affected by the same tropical cyclones.”

World Bank country director Hugh Riddell said the grant will help Malawi, which has experienced 19 major floods and eight catastrophic droughts in the last five decades, to move from a disaster response approach to preparedness.

“The establishment of stronger structures supported by the recently approved Disaster Risk Management Act (2023) presents an opportunity to support the country’s shift from a disaster response approach to preparedness, risk reduction, and sustainable post disaster recovery,” said Riddell.

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