By Alfred Chauwa

President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the partnership through the Saudi Fund financing agreement for the construction of the Makanjira Road in Mangochi district.

Dr. Chakwera said the generous decision by the Saudi Fund for Development to accept his proposal for the construction of the Makanjira Road is a gift that will keep on giving for generations to come.

Speaking during the signing ceremony of the financing agreement for the construction of the Makanjira Road held in Riyad-Saudi Arabia on Saturday, President Chakwera said Makanjira Road is an important transport infrastructure which will facilitate intra country trade and regional trade, and usher in a new wave of prosperity for Malawi.

Dr. Chakwera said since the beginning of the development cooperation in 2010, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has provided about 50 million US Dollars of concessional loans which have gone along way in cementing the partnership between the two nations.

He said it was the Saudi Fund that has built a state of the art 300 bed hospital in Phalombe which is now providing various health services to the people including ante-natal and neonatal services that were once provided at facilities too far away.

The President said it was the Saudi Fund that has constructed 3 Teachers Training Colleges in Malawi with an annual enrolment of about 1,200 teacher trainees saying it was the same Fund that contributed to the financing of the Thyolo-Makwasa- Bangula Road and the same supported the country’s efforts at debt restructuring.

“Discussions between my officials and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia team will get a confirmation on debt restructuring assurances,” said Dr. Chakwera.

President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera is in Saudi Arabia among other duties, attending the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference and Saudi-Africa Summit.