By Burnett Munthali
President Lazarus Chakwera leaves the country on Monday 29 April 2024 for Nairobi, Kenya for the World Bank’s International Development Association Summit.
A statement from Malawi’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says the visit is at the invitation of Kenya’s President William Ruto.
It says this follows the World Bank’s approval of K100 billion in support of Malawi’s efforts to achieve food security in response.
On April 26, 2024 The World Bank provided immediate support for millions of Malawians severely affected by the ongoing food security crisis. A quick-release of $57.6 million in innovative grant financing is designed to provide the country immediate liquidity through the Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (CAT-DDO1). This CAT-DDO support comes in the context of the severe food crisis the country is suffering due to El Niño conditions in the wider southern Africa region. Moreover, a series of intense disaster events over the last few years has left almost no time for the country to recover and has resulted in a severe erosion of food security at the national level.
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors in December 2023 approved the Malawi First Growth and Resilience Development Policy Operation of $80 million to support core structural reforms in the economy together with the $57.6 million CAT-DDO that could be triggered in the event of a natural disaster or crisis. Following the declaration of the national disaster by President Lazarus Chakwera on March 23, 2024, the World Bank has now made available the CAT-DDO resources.
This is in response to Chakwera’s declaration of state of disaster in 23 districts across the country last month.
