The Malawi government says it has secured a total of $19-million in loans to finance the construction of a district hospital in the southern district of Phalombe.

This amount includes $12-million from the Saudi Fund and $7-million from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.

Malawi Finance Minister Ken Lipenga says, now that the funds are available, government will initiate the process to recruit a consulting firm to oversee the implementation of the project.

“The process of recruiting a consulting firm is expected to take a maximum of six months. Thereafter, the consultant will start the process of hiring a contractor to build the hospital,” he says.

The Malawi government plans to have a district hospital in each of the country’s 27 districts to act as referral hospitals for health centres in the districts.

Phalombe does not have such a facility as it is one of the new districts to be declared in the country.

Besides providing funds for the construction of the hospital, the Saudi Fund is cofinancing the construction of the 92 km Thyolo–Thekerani–Muona–Bangula road, while Badea is cofinancing the construction of the 102 km Zomba–Jali–Phalombe–Chitakale road. Both projects are about to resume after construction was suspended owing to the economic problems that rocked Malawi from 2008 to 2012 and resulted in shortages of fuel and construction materials.

Construction of the Zomba–Jali–Phalombe–Chitakale road, which will be funded by the Malawi government, Badea, the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) Fund for International Development, will cost about $58-million.

The Thyolo–Thekerani–Muona–Bangula road project is to be cofinanced by the Opec Fund for International Development, the Kuwaiti Fund and the Saudi Fund. It will cost $92-million.