Mining
MIXED REACTIONS OVER MUNTHARIKAS SONA ON MINING
March 05, 2026 / Wahard Betha
Stakeholders in the minerals sector have expressed mixed feelings on government’s interventions to develop the sector which State President Arthur Peter Mutharika highlighted in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) during the official opening of the current sitting of Parliament in Lilongwe.
Mutharika told the house that despite being a potential pillar of economic growth, the mining sector faces numerous challenges including inadequate and limited mineral exploration; legal and regulatory frameworks; and limited capacity to negotiate mining development agreements (MDAS).
He said in order to address some of the challenges, his administration has made a number of interventions including: suspension of issuance of all types of licenses; initiated auditing of the licence registry; and banned the export of raw minerals pending review of the legal and regulatory framework.
Mutharika said: “Mr. Speaker, Sir, in addition, I have directed the Minister of Finance and the Minister responsible for Mining to enhance Malawi’s capacity for negotiating Mining Development Agreements.”
“Going forward, My Government will capacitate the state-owned Malawi Mining Investment Company (MAMICO) to undertake detailed exploration of our mineral deposits.”
“Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I had promised, Government is at an advanced stage of establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund to ensure that proceeds from mining benefit Malawians.”
Coordinator for Chamber of Mines and Energy Grain Malunga hailed the stated interventions but advised Government to consider issuing licenses to only those companies that have shown capability to progress prospecting projects to mining stage.
Malunga also advised Government to utilize Geological Survey Department (GSD) professionals in pursuing exploration projects. He said: “I am well informed that the licence registry has been audited including the cadastre map.”
“The Minister will make determination on the recommendations made by Mining Regulatory Authority.”
“MAMICO should hold government equity in mining projects and be actively involved in decision making of those companies. MAMICO should be involved in investing in strategic mining projects that promote infrastructure development and import substitution and they should use existing Geological Survey professionals in advancing strategic exploration projects.”
“The mandate of Geological Survey Department should not be compromised.” But responding in a separate interview, a Mining Expert, John Nkhoma suggested that suspending the entire issuing of licences was not a good idea and further tipped the Government on the need to only review licenses which are idle.
Nkhoma said: “I think it is not a good idea to suspend wholesome. But I also think there is need to clean the mining registry whereby they should remove all those who are just holding on to land. “Some have had the licences for many years but with no action on the ground.” “On capacitating MAMICO to conduct exploration, I do not think MAMICO is the right institution for that. They should concentrate on investment in mining and not in exploration.”
“Think about what MIDCOR (the defunct Malawi Investment and Development Corporation) was doing. I think they are misplacing their mandate.” MEAL Officer for Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN) Biswas Ismael said the decision of auditing and suspending issuance of licenses can be welcome if only it is made to identify and rectify some weaknesses or procedural actions/activities done during the provision of such licenses.
“MAMICO and GSD are two different entities. The establishment of MAMICO is to spearhead Malawi participation in mining investment.”
“Going by the reasoning by most of the experts in Malawi and others engaged from outside, they have always advised that the government should not invest in mining rather it should play the referee role because of its volatile nature.”
“Financing MAMICO will help it generate data that it can use in its investment operations and can even be selling the same just like the exploration companies have been doing in Malawi .”
“As for the GSD, they can request for the resources to upgrade the information that they hold to attract investors.” Ishmael said financing the GSD cannot produce value for money considering how government institutions operate in Malawi. He said: “Buy a leaf from MUBAS (Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences) which has been doing exploration while it is an academic institution while we have the GSD. If that is OK, then with MAMICO the same can be done.”
“Government just needs a clear strategy on how the money should be used and progress should be tracked and policed with clear timelines.”
“MAMICO should not operate like another GSD but rather a company which is doing business.”
GSD was formed recently as a state owned company mandated to hold government equity in mining ventures and invest in projects to increase government benefits from the sector while GSD is an established government department that is mandated to carry out various geological surveys and keep data for mining investors to access.
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Rehabilitation:
The establishment of a stable and self-sustaining ecosystem, but not necessarily the one that existed before mining began. In many cases, complete restoration may be impossible, but successful remediation, reclamation, and rehabilitation can result in the timely establishment of a functional ecosystem.
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Remediation:
The cleanup of the contaminated area to safe levels by removing or isolating contaminants. At mine sites, remediation often consists of isolating contaminated material in pre-existing tailings storage facilities, capping tailings and waste rock stockpiles with clean topsoil, and collecting and treating any contaminated mine water if necessary.
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