By Leonard Kavwenje,
Malawi minister of mining Ken Zikhale Reeves Ng’oma is a continual impresser and national intellectual asset as both domestic and foreign mining sensations continue to pour praise for his multiple ideas infiltrated in the ministry since the dawn of his headship.
Ng’oma recently at Malawi Mining Investment Forum 2025 puzzled the country with his emphatically brilliant articulations that among others capitalised on the need to position the youth and women on the front lead in pursuit of an impactful mining sector transformation besides technology-driven mining practices for vibrant mining sector development.
Responding to a questionnaire the star cabinet minister clarified that effectuation of youth and women input in the sector hugely hinges on training and resources, innovation and entrepreneurship promotion, local talent showcasing, investment attraction and best practices sharing to drive Malawi’s mining growth.
Exposing his unquestionably literary genius, the Nkhata Bay South parliamentarian succinctly put it, ” _You give a chimpanzee a brief case full of dollars and a banana to choose from . It will opt for a banana not knowing that opting for a briefcase of dollars can buy it farms of ripe bananas forever. Malawi should therefore put mining first to agriculture,”_
In his clever analogy, Ng’oma illustrated the short-term versus long-term decision making dillema. The chimpanzee’s choice represents immediate gratification (the banana) over potential long-term benefits (the briefcase of dollars).
In a sum, Ng’oma balances national development strategies where investing in mining could potentially yield greater economic benefits in the long run which could be used to support sectors like agriculture.
