The World Bank has announced the full disbursement to the Shire Valley Transformation project which is closing end of December.
World Bank Country Manager Firas Raad said this today in Lilongwe during the official opening of a three-day World Bank Country Portfolio Performance Review meeting (CPPR).
“We still have significant amount disbursed to the Shire Valley Transformation project, scheduled to close at the end of December” said Raad.
Through the Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP), the Government of Malawi aims to boost agricultural production and increase productivity by helping farmers get a better harvest and healthier livestock and grow more high value cash crops to sell at both domestic and international markets.
The World Bank is providing K2.5 billion on it’s national projects for this fiscal year.
According to Raad, there are five other projects, including, the Digital Malawi, that are scheduled to close in the next six months.
Meanwhile, Raad said there were delays in implementing these projects due to the climate challenges, the country has been facing in recent years.
Raad said this following concerns expressed by the Secretary to the President and Cabinet Collen Zamba, about delayed implementation periods for the various projects.
In her opening speech, Zamba said “We’ve had an extension of closing dates, so it’s something that needs to be looked at and see how best we can address those challenges”.
Zamba further expressed deepest gratitude to the World Bank for it’s unwavering and invaluable support to the Government and people of Malawi.
From today through to October 10th, 2024, the stakeholders will engage in discussions aimed at identifying the critical issues constraining projects implementation and resource absorption.
Together they are expected to develop clear action plans, assigning responsibilities to ensure challenges are effectively addressed.
