Government is amidst implementing sustainability measures for power generation, as revealed by Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bintony Kutsaira, during a visit to Egenco diesel-powered generators at Mapanga in Blantyre and weed management plant at Kamuzu Barrage in Liwonde, Machinga.

Kutsaura hailed the as efforts to increase power supply as the latest generators run for nine hours a day. “We mandated Egenco to use any means necessary to generate power,” he said.  

Egenco chief executive officer William Liabunya also praised the modern equipment, saying that it has improved power generation and supply. “We produce power without any interruption as the barrage has new and big automated gates that have eradicated human error,” he said.

Meanwhile, Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) has stated that Treasury’s spending in the energy sector is (verbatim) too little and insignificant. Ecama has therefore attributed power outages to the inadequate expenditure on the energy sector.

According to Ecama’s analysis which was presented at the first pre-budget consultation meeting for the 2019/20 National Budget in Lilongwe, Treasury’s budget allocation as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) has remained below 1% between 2016/17 and 2018/19 fiscal years.