The African Development Bank has withdrawn approximately K52.7 billion in funding for Malawi, citing weak compliance with procurement rules, financial management gaps, and deteriorating governance indicators, according to Nyasa Times. The decision reduces the country's African Development Fund allocation for the 2023 to 2025 cycle from K174.6 billion to K121.895 billion.
Nyasa Times reports that the withdrawn funds were initially intended to support major regional infrastructure. This includes the Southern African Development Community Sub-Regional Transport and Trade Facilitation Project and the rehabilitation of the Kapichira, Nkula, and Wovwe hydroelectric power stations.
In other international developments, United States lawmakers are pushing back against reported State Department plans to end lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Malawi and six other African nations. According to a press release from the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representatives Gregory W. Meeks and Sara Jacobs sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 30 warning that the proposed aid cuts would put millions of lives at risk and threaten regional stability. The committee argued that withdrawing foreign assistance could worsen disease outbreaks and undermine broader international security efforts across Sub-Saharan Africa.