Background Information

Following Malawi-EU first Investment Forum organized in November 2024 and the M300 Africa Energy Summit concluded in Tanzania few weeks ago, the EU announces the “EU Energy Package for Malawi”, a comprehensive plan to support the strengthening of Malawi’s energy sector in the years to come.

The Package is aligned with the EU Global Gateway strategy, and with the partnership between EU and Malawi (#GrowingMalawiTogether #KukuzaMalawiLimodzi), aiming to boost inclusive and sustainable economic growth for jobs creation.

The package is the result of a Team Europe approach, which sees the collective effort of European Commission, EIB as well as other European Development Banks (incl. KfW, SwedFund), EU Member States and their development agencies and EU private sector, making the EU one of the biggest contributors to the Malawi energy sector.

The total investment framework will consists of a mix of concessional loans, investment grants and guarantees, which with current and planned energy investments, is estimated to amount to over 500MEUR. Partners are the Ministry of Energy, utilities ESCOM and EGENCO, and regulator MERA.

The EU Energy Package for Malawi aims to strengthen Malawi’s energy sector, both by supporting the enhancement of its governance, as well as directly improving access to energy.

Concretely the EU Energy Package for Malawi consists of both future strategic hard infrastructure investments with Development Financial Institutions (DFIs), mostly the European Investment Bank, in key energy generation, transmission, distribution and rehabilitation of infrastructure, focusing on the promotion of innovative renewable energy solutions, accompanied by targeted soft programmes to improve regulatory and policy frameworks or for feasibility studies to facilitate future investments.

Key energy investment projects in the preliminary pipeline currently under discussion and development looked into for approval include the Global Gateway (GG) flagship project Eastern Backbone Transmission Line programme, the Mpatamanga Hydro-power Plant and the Malawi-Mozambique Interconnector, which will connect Malawi to the Southern Africa Power Pool offering opportunities to export green energy and strengthen its economic position in the region.

As of soft interventions to advance the governance of Malawi’s energy sector and boost solid, viable energy policy and regulatory frameworks for investments, the Wala Malawi Energy Programme aims

to advance the governance of Malawi’s energy sector and boost solid, viable energy policy and frameworks for investments.

The EU energy support to Malawi resonates with the G20 campaign “Scaling up  Renewables in Africa”, launched by European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen together with Africa Union President Cyril Ramaphosa on the eve of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro earlier in November 2024.

About the European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European countries. It is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. It acts globally to promote sustainable development of societies, environment and economies, so that everyone can benefit.

To know more about the Global Gateway Strategy, visit:
European Commission: Global Gateway