Mining & Trade News

The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) has come up with tougher guidelines and conditional requirements for electrical installers.

The conditional requirements include: age; knowledge; adequacy of work; premises, instruments and tools and; permit renewal.

Board Chairperson for MERA Joseph Bvumbwe said during a stakeholders’ consultative workshop on newly developed guidelines for electrical installations inspectors in Lilongwe that the new conditions will act as a guide in the process of appointing electrical installations inspectors and how they will be conducting inspections.

He said the new tougher conditions will ensure that the installers are well prepared before booking for interviews to get legal certificates.

“The guidelines will provide the scope of work of the inspectors through the classification provided in Section 5 of the Electricity (amendment) By-laws of 2018 and also provide procedures for inspection of electrical installations,” Bvumbwe said.

He explained that the guidelines will cover all types of installations including existing and new installations, and modifications and replacement of electrical equipment.

MERA Senior Electricity Specialist Shaibu Mludi said MERA came up with the new conditions following a survey conducted in the country’s major cities, which discovered abnormalities in electrical installations.

He said though all targeted installers were above recommended age (18), about 50 percent were found lacking knowledge about installation, while the average of 73 percent had no protective equipment.

“Most installers do not have an operating workshop, and those installers with overwhelming jobs do stay in a cubicle without suitable tool boxes and instruments to conduct tests,” Mludi said.

He also revealed that some installers were found with forged permits, operating without registering, non- committal to renewal of permits and some selling the registration to non -registered installers.

Mludi said minimum passing rate for the installers during practical performance assessment during inspections is 75 percent and warned that the Authority will de-register installers performing below 75 percent.

“MERA will impose penalties on installers who forge or sell stamps to uncertified electrical installers and that it will also organize installers committee to sensitize members on the dangers of forging and selling stamps to non-licensed installers,” he said. Electrical Contractors Association of Malawi President Michael Gadama admitted the presence of the

The governments of Malawi and Mozambique have initiated a resettlement process to pave way for the construction of the electricity interconnector which will enable Malawi import electricity from the region through the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP).

This comes after the two countries have secured funds from the Norwegian Trust Fund, the World Bank, German Development Bank (KFW) and the European Union to finance the project.

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Limited (ESCOM) and Electricidade De Mozambique, E.P. (EDM)   explain in a statement that they are now in the process of recruiting Rap (Resettlement Action Plan)  implementation consultant for the 400 KV Interconnector Project.

The first phase of the interconnection process will involve construction of the transmission line from Matambo substation in Tete, Mozambique to the Phombeya substation in Balaka, Malawi. Later, there will be an extension and upgrade of the Matambo substation on the Mozambican side from 220 KV to 400 KV.

“The Rap (Resettlement Action Plan) Implementation Consultant’s assignment is to ensure timely, appropriate and comprehensive implementation of the RAP in compliance with applicable legislations of both countries,” reads the statement.

It is expected that the consultant will be involved in all matters pertaining to the implementation of the resettlement plan, which will include mitigation of the adverse effects of the project.

“The implementation [of the resettlement plan] shall be done in accordance with the RAP plan developed by another consultant as well as in accordance with Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and the Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) prepared by another consultant,” Escom and EDF say.

“The RAP implementation consultant will closely work with EDM and ESCOM’s Project implementation Units and Environmental and Social specialists, and cooperate with the respective local authorities in each country responsible for land acquisition, resettlement and compensation.

The two electricity companies have since invited eligible consulting firms to indicate their interest in providing the services.

Malawi’s State President Arthur Peter Mutharika will on Friday, January 10, launch the Agricultural Commercialization Project (AGCOM) at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.

Principle Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development (MoAIWD) Gray Nyandule-Phiri says in a statement that the project is being implemented under the theme of ‘Agricultural Commercialization: Leveraging Cooperatives and Markets.’

Nyandule-Phiri explains that his Ministry is implementing the project in close collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (MoITT) and other stakeholders using proceeds of a loan from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) amounting to US$ 95-million.

He says: “The objective of AGCOM is to increase commercialization of agricultural value chain products selected under the project including products of farms and agribusinesses, like crop, livestock, and fisheries products sold domestically or exported, with or without processing, depending on market requirements.”

“AGCOM is implementing a high impact Productive Alliance (PA) approach based on commercial agreement between the project supported Producer Organizations (POs) including farmer cooperatives and associations.”

The project is expected to benefit small-scale and emerging poor farmers (cultivating not more than eight hectors) and farmer organizations with capacity to produce beyond subsistence; agro-product buyers (processors, retailers, exporters, and aggregators) and; financial lending institutions for the agricultural sector.

AGCOM will also be paying special attention to women and youth based producer organizations to achieve the objective of having a minimum of 300 productive alliances and 100,000 farming households in 5-years’ time.

The project has four components namely: Building Productive Alliances that will be supporting the integration of small-scale and emerging farmers; Support Investment Enabling Services for Access to Agricultural Financing and Access to Land for Commercial Agriculture; Project Coordination and Management and; AGCOM approach in selecting the Value Chains (VC) to allow agricultural value chains have strong prospective commercial linkages.

AGCOM is being implemented through an independent Project Implementation Unit (PIU) whose operations started in July 2018.

The PIU is charged with the responsibility to oversee day to day project implementation, monitor progress, and coordinate and account for utilization of project funds.

The project will be implemented country-wide for six years from 2018 to 2023.

The Malawi Government says the county’s underexploited leather industry has the potential to contribute up to 4% to Malawi’s Gross Domestic Product if fully exploited.    

Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Salim Bagus said this during the Africa Leather and Leather Products Institutes (ALLPI) annual regional consultative forum that took place at Bingu International Convention Center (BICC) in Lilongwe.

Bagus said that Malawi’s leather industry has overwhelming potential as demand for footwear alone is estimated at 16 million pairs against current production of around 0.3 million pairs per annum as of 2018.

“The demand is projected to reach 18 million pairs per annum in tandem with population growth this year, which clearly shows that there is potential and viability of investing in a tannery in Malawi which can feed the Leather Design Studio with finished leather as well as supplying the deficit countries in the region,” he said.

Bagus said with support from ALLPI, Malawi managed to develop the Leather Value Strategy in 2015 to transform leather value chain from the production and export of raw hides and skins and processed products to the production and export of value added products including finished leather, footwear and leather garments.

He said: “As part of implementation of this Strategy, my Ministry has been supporting the sector by among other things, initiating the setting up of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Association and; training of SMEs and Cooperatives in Vegetable Tanning and Footwear Making.”

“We have been also in the forefront sponsoring the SMEs to participate in various international Leather Trade Fairs where they could exhibit their products and explore many skills through networking with foreign leather SMEs,” he said.

Bagus said his ministry established the Satellite Leather Design Studio in Blantyre to promote investment in the sector through setting up of a tannery to complete the existing leather value chain gap.

This year’s regional indaba was celebrated under the theme of ‘Developing Africa’s Leather Value Chain through research, business linkages and technology Transfer,’ and the Minister said it is a well-chosen theme whose adoption will help to free-up some SMEs who are pinned by challenges in the industry.

Efforts to promote Malawi’s SMEs in the Leather Value Chain have mostly been undermined by challenges such as lack of modern technology and low levels of research and development (R&D) in support of the sector.

In his remarks, Director of Administration and Finance in the Ministry Joseph Mkandawire described the sector as one of the priority areas for the Government due to its potential to change the welfare of the SMEs and the outlook of the national economy.

Mkandawire said the sector has the potential to immensely contribute to job creation, poverty reduction and the overall economic growth of the country.

He said: “The sector analysis shows that the value chain has the potential of grossing up to US$102 million dollars (MK45 billion), if all hides and skins produced in Malawi are utilized and processed into finished goods locally.”

“It is also estimated that the industry can potentially generate 3,500 jobs in the manufacturing of footwear and a couple of thousand jobs in accessories, manufacturing and footwear distribution and marketing.”

The Malawi Government is seeking a strategic private sector sponsor to develop the proposed 350MW Mpatamanga Hydro Power Project on the Shire River.

The Mpatamanga project, which was identified in the 1998 Power Development Plan study, is being developed as a Public Private Partnership with the Malawi government through EGENCO acquiring 30% shareholding and a strategic sponsor expected to have 70% interest.

Speaking to Mining and Trade Review at the launching ceremony of the procurement process for the strategic sponsor in Blantyre, Acting CEO for Malawi’s Public Private Partnership Commission, Audrey Mwala, said the new power plant will be located at Mpatamanga Gorge, between the two existing hydropower plants, Tedzani and Kapichira, on the Shire River.

She said: “Government conducted a comprehensive Feasibility Study in 2018 which recommended a peaking plant with a capacity of 309MW, and the station will have two dams: Main dam for 309MW daily peaking plant, and a regulating dam downstream for additional 41MW of baseload generating.”

“The project intends to meet future power demand and to balance current and future baseload energy from solar, wind, thermal or run of river plants as it will provide crucial peaking capacity for Malawi.”

The Malawi Government is, meanwhile, looking for interested bidders who upon signing confidentiality undertaking and paying the required fee will be granted access to a Virtual Data Room containing all necessary documents for the project.  

She said the state will organize a pre-bid conference and will provide additional opportunities for bidders to submit queries and seek clarifications during the tender process.

The strategic sponsor will also be subsequently required to tender out certain key contracts in compliance with requirements set by the Malawi Government.

Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bintony Kutsaira, who graced the launching ceremony for the procurement process, touted the project as one of various interventions that his Ministry is pursuing to develop the energy sector which is one of the priority areas in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) III.

“The country is ranked poorly on access to electricity which is only available to 11% of the population, despite this low penetration of electricity, the country faces significant blackouts mainly arising from a low generation capacity. Implementation of this project means a halt to persistent power blackouts.”

Kutsaira expressed gratitude to the World Bank for financing the feasibility study of the project.

Value addition is the enhancement added to minerals by a company/miners before selling to customers. It is a secured scenario whereby one obtains the highest rewards from a mining or related mining entity and it may be from mining practice to the finished product, in short enhancing the quality and quantity of the chain of production. There are numerous aspects related to value addition when it comes to mining. The higher value added products mostly fetch high prices and these prices tend to be more stable and value addition is also pursued further.

Processing of raw materials is the solution to African economies. Africa is especially vulnerable to global economic shocks because primary products account for more than 50% of the value of exports. It is therefore apparent that Malawi needs to be able to process its minerals into high value products for exportation and local consumption and this will translate into economic growth.

Mineral wealth should be a source for equitable growth and poverty reduction. Malawi has wealth in minerals and most of these are not yet fully exploited and utilised. A case in point is China which has experienced rapid transformation economically. All this phenomenal growth hinges on the availability of cheap raw materials from Africa. In value addition of minerals, suppliers of mining inputs and markets are also important to the enhancement of high quality and increased quantity mineral production. In anticipation of greater returns miners must also be aware that opportunities of accessing the incentives more than once is possible and may be achieved, by carrying out value addition activities where applicable, as valuable by products can be reclaimed, and further processed for export, meaning more foreign currency inflows to the nation and more money to the miner respectively to say the least.

Economic growth is a result of value addition that creates wealth for nations. Nations utilise the gifts of nature which are the raw materials to manufacturing. Africa has abundancy of these natural resources but lacks appropriate economic development due to lack of scientific knowledge. In the worst case, raw materials are extracted from Africa and exported in their raw state at very low prices. Value addition or processing is done outside the countries of origin and the finished goods or processed materials imported as finished products that attract more money. The importation at high prices opens the gap between poverty and wealthy nations. This unavailability of such technologies is quickly capitalized by rich nations who already have the technology but do not have adequate raw materials in their nations. Such a scenario creates exploitation of natural resources from African nations such as Malawi.

In Malawi the most minerals that have the potential to add value are;

1. Dimension Stones

Dimension Stone is produced from quarrying operations that typically involve isolating a mass of stone by cutting it free from the parent mass on all sides but one. The isolated mass is then lifted or separated from the parent mass by breaking it free or by undercutting it with a wire or chain saw. The cut stones are usually of larger block size. Quarry operations thus involve cutting the stone, breaking the stone, and removing the stone from the quarry.

• Uses of dimension stones

In Malawi, rough block production represents a very small percentage if at all it is being done. Dimension stone blocks are used mostly in construction and to make monuments, tombstones. On the other hand dressed stone is used to make other decorations such as carvings, statues flower vases but this is very rare in Malawi.

Dimension stones can also add value by shaping them into desirable use.  Examples in Malawi are the black/ pink granites, sodalites, syenites, amazonite,gabbros that are used to make floor, wall tiles by means of lapidary processes not forgetting limestones for terrazzo making for use in monuments and tombstones.

• Gemstones

Gemstone dealing is a multibillion dollar industry but it is usually underestimated in Malawi. This may be probably due to lack of understanding of the potential of extracting these gems, inability to identify ready markets, lack of machinery and also the skills to deal with it etc. It is a rewarding business that has the potential to create huge job opportunities, non-bulky, foreign currency generation, stimulates other economic sectors; such as tourism and also provide safe investment.

In Malawi, efforts have been made to mine gemstones like sapphire, ruby, amethyst, rose quartz, garnets, aquamarines, beryl, corundum , tourmaline etc. and are shaped into different forms for jewellery, cabochons, sculpture, and ornaments inorder to add value but unfortunately it is done only to a smaller, unrecognised extent.

• Problems faced by the gemstone Industry in Malawi
• Gemstone buyers often offer very low prices
• Lack of systematic approach to description and evaluation of gemstones in order to buy, sell and appraise coloured gemstones appropriately and profitably.
•  Lack of capacity to process the stones into jewellery.
• Lack of capacity to grade, evaluate and negotiate the right price for stones.
•  Lack of a well-coordinated system of buying and marketing gemstones from the miners, hence the sector suffers from smugglers from neighbouring countries and beyond.

• Unavailability of gemologists as the most competent experts in undertaking gem valuation. Malawi has only but one or two.
• There is some hostility in gemstone mining between villagers and operators. Sometimes customary land owners or ordinary villagers do not want to give access to operators even if they possess the necessary permits from the Mines Department.

• Industrial Minerals

These are a variety of minerals such as, gypsum, limestone, graphite, quartz and vermiculite that have a wide range of applications in ceramics, pottery, and brick and tile-making, phosphates, mica and glass manufacture rutile, quartz, feldspar, graphite, kaolinitic clays, dolomitic limestones mica, and silica. These are economically of high quality and can add value to the nation. However, it still remains of very low use in Malawi both industrially as local and for export.

In addition, there are some metallic/industrial minerals that are brought into various shapes for sale thereby also adding value. Of late, the emergence of gold in Malawi is a big potential and a boost to add value to the industry by making jewellery, electroplating, house decorations etc.

• Malawis’ mineral resources are finding it hard to add value in the supply chain due to among others;
• Poor quality of minerals like gemstones, 
• Knowledge, skill gap in exercising expertise e.g faceting, lapidary.
•  Inadequate quantity of minerals
• The role of middlemen and also buyers
•  Undervaluation of the minerals
• Smuggling
• Lack of machinery and equipment for both mining and mineral processing

• What needs to be done to Malawi as a Nation to boost value addition to minerals?

•  Robust government recognition of the sector’s potential
• Export of rough gemstone in large quantity
• Quality control
• Attain knowledge in mining, sorting and grading
• Create investment opportunities in mining
• Local Artisanal miners should have easy access to capital and land for mining
•  Support  lapidary shops/factories for their establishment
• Adequate laboratories for mineral testing are needed
• Train more gemologists, stone cutters.
• Adopt mineral added value policies from other countries

Mineral resources that add value are not only considered as the source of national income, but also as national asset to boost national economic growth. Implementation of sustainable mining can be translated by conducting good mining practices with emphasises to carry out an environmentally sound mine operation and also mineral beneficiation is an effort to improve the sustainable use of mineral resources. Most of the minerals in Malawi remain untouched and this also hinders advancement for value addition. If this scenario remain stagnant, value addition shall not succeed in the current and near future as well.

Manesi Kapeni Village in the area of Senior Chief Kapeni in the south-western part of Blantyre is located almost 5-minutes’ drive off the M1 road. There is almost an air of tranquility as one passes through trees which form part of the surrounding and the chirping sounds of birds and insects. The sight of many people working in the farms clearly demonstrates that it is a predominantly agricultural area.

But this area, in September, experienced acts of violence. The community members blocked a Chinese company which is constructing a bypass road in Blantyre from mining quarry stones in the area. What followed later were a series of meetings between government officials, the community and local leaders. No resolution has been reached so far.

Village head Manesi Kapeni said the initiative to start mining quarry in his area came as a surprise. So do his subjects who were shocked to see the Chinese coming into the area to start testing the rock quarry for construction of Blantyre By-Pass Road. Most of the information the village head had about the project then was through grapevine.

“They just came with their machines and this surprised my subjects. Consequently,  some of them started rioting,” he told Mining and Trade Review in an interview, adding; “I told them [contractors] to go back as some of my subjects accused me that I had sold part of the village where the rock was.”

But later, the contractors came and took samples of the rock and assessed the surrounding area to determine how much land will be affected. Those within the vicinity of the affected area were to be compensated.

“When the officers from the District Council visited the area there was riot. People insisted they would not relocate since some of their relatives were buried there. I sat down with Traditional Authority Kapeni and the District Council officials after engaging the community but up to now there is no resolution to the wrangle. The Chinese came again and did some testing, I am told, but we do not know what will happen next.”

Not isolated incident

What happened in Manase Kapeni Village is growing into a familiar phenomenon in Malawi’s minerals sector as recently a vehicle belonging to a Chinese firm carrying gemstones was detained in Mzimba following a row which erupted between community members and the firm with the latter being accused of smuggling gemstones out of the area.

Senior Chief Pherembe of Mzimba said in an interview: “We have noticed that there is an influx of these Chinese operators in the district that are conducting mining activities without proper procedures.”

“They are doing that on customary land which belongs to us and therefore we have to be informed of their presence.”

 The chiefs threatened to shut down the gemstone mines.

Members of parliament and councilors in Dowa district also called for suspension of all mining activities in their areas until the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining gives an explanation on how it is dealing with illegal mining in the district.

Unanswered questions

According to Consulting Geologist, john Nkhoma, there is need for proper community sensitisation before the inception of any mining project in the country.

“The company should inform the community through the District Council and Mines department of what their activities are and if there is any compensation, people must know who will do the property evaluation and modes of payment,” said Nkhoma, a veteran Geologist, who is Managing Director of Chiwandama GeoConsultants.

He said in the case of the quarry mining wrangle in Blantyre, there should have been consultation for the company to be awarded an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) certificate.

The question is; “Did the company do that. When they were mobilising did they inform all the relevant stakeholders?”

Reacting to the events, Deputy Director for Mines Department in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Peter Chilumanga said in order to deal away with wrangles between mining company’s and members of the community in mining areas, government has proposed that all artisanal and small scale miners (ASMs) using equipment should get medium scale mining licenses.

 “In that way, issues of CSR as complained by communities will be a thing of the past as all medium scale miners are mandated to execute CSR activities signed by all interested and affected parties,” Chilumanga said.

 Surely, if the government and the quarry mining contractor in Manesa Kapeni Village had followed such well knitted arrangements as unveiled by Chilumanga, things could not reached such a boiling point in this beautiful village.

Mchenga Coal Mines Limited (MCM), which is one of the oldest mines in the country, has unveiled plans to extend and open new mining sites in its license area to increase its annual coal production from the current 12000 tonnes to 48000 by 2021.

MCM Mining Manager Munashe Dicha disclosed the plans in an interview with Mining & Trade Review during a media tour of the mine organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining.

Dicha said the planned increase in production is aimed at meeting the demand of coal from its local customers.

He said: “It has been a long time since our customers started complaining that we, the local coal producers, are failing to meet their demands. We have located new sites that we plan to open as soon as possible to up production,”

“The sites include Phoka Mine, office block thus near our offices, and we also we want to extend the existing Mwandira mine.”

Dicha said the office block prospect has a huge reserve to support development of three mines.

He said the planned production increase will reduce the importation of coal from neighboring countries including Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Mchenga customers are spread across Malawi and include Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company, Cement Products, Kanengo Tobacco Processors, Central Poultry Feeds Group, East Metals, and Malawi Iron and Steel Corporation (Miscor).

Regional Mining Engineer for the Northern Region George Maneya commended Mchenga for its plans to increase production.

Maneya said: “Mchenga lies within the Livingstonia Coalfield where coal is of highest quality compared to the Sub Sahara coal.”

“So the idea for the company to increase production implies Malawi will produce more quality coal to meet the demands of the local market.”

He said if local companies increase their production to meet the domestic demand, the government will map out ways to reduce importation of coal from other countries, which is creating unfair competition with the local industry hence threatening the survival of local investments.

Mchenga also updated the journalists on its plans to kick-start construction works for the 100 MW Rukuru Power Plant by 2021.

“We already conducted a feasibility study which proved the viability of the project. We are currently working out agreements with other stakeholders to solicit funds for the project,” Dicha said.

Dicha said the plant will be connected to the national grid and the company will only tap 5MW for its operations.

Meanwhile, Mchenga is executing a corporate social responsibility programme in the area which   includes provision of free health facilities and drugs to surrounding communities; provision of free portable water and; construction of school blocks and teachers’ houses; chief’s houses; playing fields; and renovation of roads.

MCM has also employed a bulk of its 236 employees from the surrounding community and has provided the employees and their families social amenities including a clinic, a primary school, kindergarten, a subsidized shop, sporting facilities, electricity, a club with pay television (DSTV), a maize mill and portable water.

Dicha said the company is also providing internship opportunities to students from Polytechnic University and technical colleges, and in-house training in Mining Engineering.

Mchenga has also embarked on an environmental rehabilitation exercise where by it is planting trees in worked out areas.

The company approximately planted 12000 tree seedlings in eroded areas and estimates that within 2-years, it will be able to start harvesting mine support timbers from its own rehabilitation plantations.

Coal at Mchenga Mine is extracted using Room and Pillar method, which involves the application of underground working variation of Board and Pillar configurations, a competitive method in ground control measures for stability and safety.

Coal Mining at Mchenga started in 1987 and a state owned mining company, the defunct Mining Investment and Development Corporation (MIDCOR), operated the Mine to May 1995 when it was privatised.

The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) says access to credit facilities is one of the key fundamentals required for Malawi to transform to a private sector driven economy.

RBM Governor Dalitso Kabambe said this in Blantyre during the launch of the Credit Awareness Week which runs from December 9 to 15, 2019.

During the week the Central Bank conducts an awareness campaign on the benefits of following effective credit management practices and use of credit history reports from Credit Reference Bureaus.

Kabambe said the awareness campaign will result in increased understanding of credit access and usage by many Malawians for their economic empowerment and development.

He pointed out that for three consecutive years the country’s economy has stabilized with inflation currently at 9.3%, hence it is an opportune time for local citizens to access credit facilities to boost their capital.

“This week is of paramount importance to local citizens as Malawians will gain knowledge on merits of borrowing money from licensed or registered lending institutions including banks, microfinance institutions and savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) as opposed to borrowing from informal lending institutions,” he said.

Currently, only 3% of the Malawi population has access to credit from formal lending institutions, as the rest opt for informal institutions including village banks, a fact that Kabambe attributed to financial illiteracy.

In his remarks, Executive Director for Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) John Kapito urged financial institutions to uphold better customer care services.

Kapito said, among others, banks should ensure that customers are conversant with consumer rights and obligations when accessing loans.

He said: “During the recent years we have seen informal lending institutions growing drastically as opposed to formal institutions due to fair packages that the facilities offer to borrowers hence the need for commercial banks to borrow a leaf from such institutions”.

“Formal sector must invest much in understating credit terms and conditions among others interest rate, repayment period, short term or long term loan and consequences of default before signing a credit agreement between a lending institution and a borrower.”

Other sponsors for the awareness campaign include Bankers Association of Malawi, Malawi Microfinance Network, and Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives.

In order to disseminate the core financial literacy messages within the week, RBM is among other things running financial literacy clinics and conducting credit awareness workshops with some of the major stakeholders.