Africa-Press – Malawi. By Cathy Maulidi in Abuja, Nigeria
President Lazarus Chakwera has challenged African leaders, asserting that for Africa to achieve meaningful development, countries must consider industrialization as a way to go.
Speaking at a presidential panel discussion during the 32nd Afreximbank Annual Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, Chakwera said that Africa must shift from exporting raw materials to becoming a hub of manufacturing and industrialisation.
Giving his thoughts in the discussion which was held under the theme ‘Can Africa and the Caribbean Rise in a Fractured World?’, Chakwera said African countries should stop exporting raw materials and move to exporting products that they have added value.
“We have to make sure that the production methods of our commodities are upscale,” Chakwera said. “But not just that, positive trade also means that we must trade not merely in raw materials, but also in materials that have had value added right here on the continent.”
He continued, “Doing this would not only improve trade but can also help create jobs.
“We need to create jobs for our young people, and this is what our Malawi 2063 vision talks about.
How does Malawi become a self-reliant, all-inclusively wealthy nation? That is through industrialisation.”
Chakwera further noted that some policies in Africa need revisiting as they continue to marginalize vulnerable groups.
He pointed out that many of these policies have left subsistence farmers that feed the majority while they remain poor.
“We continue to export raw materials, and those producing are not empowered to produce more and of high quality consistently. This is an issue that we are facing and needs to be addressed urgently,” Chakwera said.
On agriculture, Chakwera emphasised the need for Africa to transition from subsistence farming to commercial farming. He said Malawi has already begun taking that route.
“In Malawi, we have moved from merely ending poverty; we want to create wealth instead,” Chakwera said. “So, we have developed an Agriculture, Tourism, Mining strategy where agricultural production and commercialization are emphasised, with mega-farms on board.
“For irrigation, we are currently developing what will be the largest irrigation system in Southern Africa—the Shire Valley Transformation Programme. We want to make sure that agriculture becomes not just food for one day but produces commodities that can feed the rest of the people in the world.”
Speaking at the annual meeting, president and chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank Benedict Oramah said Afreximbank has worked hard to develop and industrialize Africa and now the Caribbean.
He said the bank and Arise IIP which is jointly owned by the bank, AFC and Equitane — an equity fund — have invested in the development of Special Industrial Zones in Benin, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo and is at various stages of developing others in Angola, DRC, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
“The goal is to create 100,000 hectares of industrial estates in Africa. Investments by the bank since 2011 amount to US$2 billion and are rapidly transforming the economic landscape of the beneficiary countries,” Oramah said.
The 32nd 2025 Afreximbank annual meeting ended yesterday with voting for new leadership as one of the final activities.
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