Sun, Sep 13, 2026 page9

• Malawi’s mining offers promises and challenges

  • By Jack McBrams / AFP, LILONGWE
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  A new generation of mining projects targeting rare earth and critical minerals could transform Malawi’s economy — but experts warn of the Africa-wide challenges in turning resource wealth into broad-based prosperity.

  One of the world’s poorest countries, Malawi has long depended on agriculture, aid and a handful of exports such as tobacco, tea and sugar.

  Now discoveries of rare earths and critical minerals potentially worth tens of billions of dollars are drawing the small southern African nation into the global scramble for materials essential for the energy transition and advanced manufacturing.

  

  A woman holds a Malawian flag during a protest against plans for new coal mines outside the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town on Feb. 11.

  Photo: Reuters

  Critics warn that without stronger institutions, local participation and domestic processing, Malawi could repeat a pattern familiar in Africa of exporting valuable resources while reaping few benefits at home.

  “This means a lot to us and expectations are very high,” said Malawian Member of Parliament Lawrence Chakakala Chaziya, whose constituency includes central Kasiya where Sovereign Metals, an Australian company, is advancing a major critical minerals project.

  Sovereign Metals says the operation sits atop the world’s largest natural deposit of rutile — used in titanium production — and one of the largest of graphite, an important component of lithium-ion batteries.

  “Given the large quantities of deposits here, we expect the mining project to bring tangible benefits to our people, particularly in terms of improved social services,” Chaziya said. “I have already urged our people not to sell their land.”

  In the south, another Australian company is developing a project to extract rare earths used in powerful magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and other advanced technologies. Canadian and Australian groups are also developing other rare earths projects and reviving a long-dormant uranium mine.

  Mining contributes about 1 percent of Malawi’s GDP, according to figures cited by the Malawian Chamber of Mines and Energy.

  The World Bank estimates the sector could account for about 12 percent of GDP by next year. Cumulative mineral exports could reach US$30 billion from this year to 2040, with annual revenues approaching US$3 billion by 2034.

  “Mining offers Malawi a realistic chance to diversify the economy, earn foreign exchange, create skilled jobs and build industries beyond agriculture,” said Gowokani Chijere-Chirwa, an economist at the University of Malawi.

  The Malawian government has already moved to improve its hand by passing a law in 2023 removing a 10 percent ceiling on state participation in the sector.

  It also plans a state mining company to pursue exploration, joint ventures and mineral beneficiation or upgrading of raw ores, Malawian Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority Director-General Mphatso Chikoti said.

  The country needs to produce skilled professionals, from geologists to lawyers with mining expertise, said Ahmed Dassu, a mining expert.

  It should also shore up its geological mapping to “negotiate from a stronger position, attract credible investors and avoid giving away valuable resources without fully understanding their potential,” Dassu told reporters.

  Like many resource-rich African countries, Malawi faces the challenge of breaking free from a colonial-era model that treats the continent as “a project of extractivism,” said Deprose Muchena from the Open Society Foundations, which supports African governments in policy development.

  Muchena cited examples of major chromium producer Zimbabwe exporting virtually all its output, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo provides about 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, but processes only a fraction domestically.

  Africa holds about 30 percent of the world’s critical mineral reserves, including cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel and rare earths, according to the UN, making it a focus of competition between the US and China for strategic resources.

  Weak tax regimes and corruption further erode potential gains, with Africa losing about US$88 billion annually to illicit outflows such as underpricing exports or overpricing imports, Muchena said.

  Mining projects should not be operating as a separate international enclave, but brought into economies to spur industrialization, he told reporters.

  “Malawi has a very small window to turn around the discovery of minerals, of rare earths, into an opportunity for economic development,” he said.
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