Hon. Francis Kasaila addresses the 12th Conclave on India-Africa in Delhi

Hon. Francis Kasaila led the Malawi delegation to the 12th Conclave on India-Africa Partnership Project held at Taj Palace in New Delhi from 8 to 10 March 2017. Making his remarks at ta session on “Reinforcing India’s Development Cooperation with Africa,” the Minister noted that agriculture, healthcare, ICT, skilling, education, renewable energy and mining were the major areas where India-African partnerships would deliver maximum benefits.

With regard to the importance of agriculture in Malawi, Hon Kasaila informed the Conclave that Malawi was an agriculture country. He pointed out that the country was blessed with fertile land, plenty of sunshine, availability of plentiful fresh water and abundant labour. He noted that the country needed to embark on farm mechanisation. He said with mechanisation and modernisation, the sector could see exponential growth.

The Minister observed that other than agriculture, other sectors like healthcare, ICT, skilling, sustainable energy and mining offered immense potential for investments in Malawi.

Regarding financial assistance, the Minister called on the Indian government to reconfigure the rules of Indian assistance through the Lines of Credit to include countries like Malawi, which were on the verge of being deprived of the facility, as the country had been erroneously classified as a middle-income country.