Donor confidence: World Bank announce $50Mn additional financing for Malawi’s Mpatamanga electricity generation project

World Bank has announced $50million for the long awaited 350 megawatts Mpatamanga electricity generation project.

The World Bank announced this at the World Economic Summit underway in the USA which Malawi is attending.

This is happening following the sound economic policies which President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera Government has demonstrated.

Mpatamanga Hydro Power Plant (MHPP) Project will generate electricity by harnessing the power of flowing water and the change in elevation of the Shire River. The project will construct two dams, in series, along the Shire River, located between two existing hydropower facilities.

The main dam will be built across the river to store water and create a reservoir. To generate electricity, the stored water is released in a controlled manner from the reservoir (during peak electricity demand) it flows downhill, due to gravity, through large tunnels into the main power station.

The project is being implemented by Mpatamanga Hydro Power Limited (MHPL) which is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) established in 2022 to develop, finance, construct, own and operate a hydropower project on the Shire River at Mpatamanga Gorge under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model with the Government of Malawi (GoM) owning a 30% shareholding.

The Project capitalizes on the advantages of a PPP, eliminating the constraints on public resources, while at the same time fostering economic growth in the region.

Malawi delegation is in USA to attend the summit on behalf of President Dr Lazarus Chakwera.