Malawi Government appoints expatriate firms to assist in negotiating MDAs

By Staff Reporter

The Malawi Government says it has appointed London based reputable international firms, DWF and Trinity to conduct due diligence on the Mine Development Agreements (MDAs) which it is negotiating with mining companies.

Minister of Mining Dr. Albert Mbawala MP said at a Press Conference in Lilongwe that was organized to update the nation on the developments in his Ministry that the arrangement is meant to ensure that the MDAs are water-tight, particularly, on fiscal matters and robust enough to ascertain a win-win situation for the Companies, on one hand, and the country as a whole, on the other hand.

Malawi is negotiating MDAs with ASX-listed Lotus Resources to resume uranium mining at Kayelekera in Karonga, ASX-listed Globe Metals & Mining to start mining niobium and tantalum at Kanyika in Mzimba, and UK and Canada listed Mkango Resources to start mining rare earth elements at Songwe Hill in Phalombe.

“You may wish to know that Government, through the Ministry of Justice, has engaged two reputable international firms, DWF and Trinity based in London, in order to conduct due diligence on the MDAs at no cost to Government,” Mbawala told the Press in Lilongwe.

He said the Malawi Government has given itself January, 31 2023 as a deadline for completion of the MDAs with Globe Metals and Mining, Mkango Resources and Lotus.

He explained that his Ministry anticipates that some of these projects will graduate into mining stage during the 2023/24 financial year.

Investors have been complaining on the delays by the Malawi Government to finalise negotiations on MDAs, which could make the country less attractive to mining investors compared to regional competitors such as Namibia where ASX-listed Paladin Energy which operated Kayelekera has resumed uranium production at its Langer Heinrich Mine.

Malawi has taken over 10 years to negotiate a MDA for Kayelekera, a process which takes less than a month in many resource rich countries.

Leave a Reply