By Staff Reporter
The World Bank through its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has pledged to work with the Malawi Government in support of the development of the country’s private sector.
IFC Resident Representative for Malawi and Zambia Madalo Minofu said it is through such support to the private sector that the country could achieve tangible economic growth.
Minofu made the commitment in Lilongwe on Friday during the launch of the Private Sector Lab. President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, the brain behind the Lab, presided over the launch.
Minofu said IFC is geared to provide private sector financing for various investments including in the energy and agro-business sector.
UNDP Resident Representative Shigeki Komatsubara has hailed the initiative observing that the Labs would help remove bottlenecks hampering economic growth such as shortage of forex, limited access to capital and others.
However, Komatsubara noted that it was not encouraging that the country’s manufacturing sector is only contributing 11% of Malawi’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP).
He said more could be done to improve the sector.
The Labs are, according to government, meant to operate as a platform for structured interface between the private and public sectors to maximize development impact.
 has pledged to work with the Malawi Government in support of the development of…){kind=link}