By Suleman Chitera

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has called for stronger collaboration among financial institutions, government and mining stakeholders to unlock financing opportunities and accelerate the growth of Malawi’s mining sector.

The call was made during a breakfast engagement hosted by NBM plc on Thursday in Lilongwe, which brought together mining experts, government officials and other stakeholders to discuss financing opportunities and challenges facing the sector under the theme, ‘Winning Through Collaborative Efforts: Partnerships in Practice’.

Speaking during the engagement, NBM plc Head of Retail Banking William Chatsala said the bank has the capacity to finance both small-scale and large-scale mining operations, but stronger engagement is needed to address the risks associated with lending to the sector.

“Mining presents a huge potential for the development of this country. We look at lending towards the mining sector in most cases as risky, especially for exploration purposes. However, if we do not talk between the banks and the potential miners, we do not have an opportunity for enabling mining to take off,” said Chatsala.

Chatsala said the bank has the capacity to finance both small-scale and large-scale mining operations through direct financing and collaboration with partners.

Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism, Deputy Director Chezani Otaniele, commended NBM plc for bringing together the private sector and government to discuss investment in mining, saying the event, shows how companies are ready to developing mining industry.

“The main take out of this event is the financing part and the collaboration. It has shown that the financial sector is ready to support government’s effort,” said Otaniele.

Otaniele said the country could achieve its target of increasing the mining sector’s contribution to the economy to 10 percent by 2030 if government, the private sector and financial institutions work together.

“We are moving towards that 10 percent if we do collaborate and work together, both the government and the private sector, and the financial institutions need to come in so that they finance the whole operation,” said Otaniele.

Calling on strong collaborations among government and private sector, Mining and energy expert, Grain Malunga said stronger partnerships could help overcoming the challenges which the industry faces.

“The problem is we have so many influencers who misinform the nation and our political leaders to make certain decisions that are not good for mining investment. These are the issues that are obstructing progress in the mining sector,” said Malunga.

Recently during its 54^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) NBM plc revealed its plans to invest in mining