By Kondanani Chilimunthaka President Lazarus Chakwera has told the nation that the ATM Strategy is the envisioned game-changer for the country’s development from a poor to a wealthy nation. Chakwera said he introduced the ATM Promotion week with an aim of bringing together stakeholders in sectors of Agriculture, Tourism, and Mining, and all Malawians in removing the bottlenecks hindering the country’s development through advancement of the ATM Strategy, adding that time has come for Malawi to rise and protect her mineral riches from smugglers and contracts that do not benefit her. Speaking at Bingu International Convention Center (BICC), in Lilongwe on Tuesday, 23rd April 2024 when he officially launched the Mining Investment Forum, Chakwera told the nation that Malawi has a lot of mineral riches, but is failing to benefit from the deposits because there are still some bottlenecks which need to be addressed inorder to have the necessary benefits. “We have gold, rubies, rutile, boxite, graphite, oil, gas, uranium, granite, beryl, quarry, amazonite, marble, gypsum, iron, agate, sapphire, aquamarine, which are mineral riches we as a nation should rely on for our development” Said President Chakwera. Among others, the President mentioned ignorance, negligence, and lack of capital resources among Malawians as factors contributing to the bottlenecks hampering the Mining sector, regardless of having many mineral deposits. However, President Chakwera said the establishment of Mining Authority and Mining Company aims at protecting the mineral deposits that Malawi has, by among others reviewing the mining contracts which were not benefiting Malawi. The President has since commended banks in the country such as National, Standard, NBS, and Eco Bank among others for taking a role in ensuring investments in Mining, saying it gives assurance that by the year 2030 Malawi will be a changed nation with a lot of forex which is still scarce. “All is possible within the next 6 years if we all love our country, protect our minerals, and refuse to sign any contract that does not guarantee return on investment for Malawi and for Malawians, who deserve to be the primary beneficiaries of all the mineral riches of this country” Added Malawi Leader. The ATM Promotion week was officially launched on Friday, 19th April with an Agriculture Investment Conference. The Mining Investment Forum is being held under the theme Transforming the Nation through Sustainable Mineral Extraction. Post navigation Katoto Supermarket hikes Mzuzu netball sponsorship to K5 million Malawi affirms its commitment to Connected Africa at the inaugural Connected Africa Summit which started on Monday at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi, Kenya.