The African Development Bank has been supporting Malawi's development efforts which started in  1969. Since then, commitments worth US $ 838.8 million, net of cancellations, have been made to finance 73 development projects, 11 studies and 2 lines of credit. As of December 2007, the Bank’s active commitment amounted to US $ 203 million.

The Bank’s 2005-09 Results-Based Country Strategy Paper (RBCSP) for Malawi is anchored on the country’s second-generation Medium Term Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS). It is designed to respond to Malawi’s key development challenges of widespread poverty, food insecurity, unemployment, limited export growth and capacity and skills gap as articulated in the MGDS.

Development Policy

Malawi has seen a steady macroeconomic growth in the past few years, with real GDP growth rate averaging above 8.0 percent since 2005. The country’s external debt sustainability has greatly improved following debt relief through the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) in 2006. Mid-term prospects are positive, strengthened by possible expansion beyond agriculture. It is estimated that uranium exports would start in 2009 at a value of $170mn contributing to 2.6 percent of GDP.

Bank Group Strategy

The African Development Bank will continue to support Malawi in its efforts to improve its infrastructure (roads, irrigation, water and sanitation); increase productivity and diversification of the agriculture sector; strengthen human skills and institutional capacity through improved education and health services; improve the country’s connectivity to regional and global markets and the development of the private sector in particular Small and Medium Enterprises.

The Bank will also continue to support the government’s reform programme and the implementation of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy.