Contractors Called to Accelerate SAVE Project Construction

by Anderson Fumulani

Skills for A Vibrant Economy (SAVE) Project has mounted pressure on some 22 contractors across the country to complete their construction by end of June this year or lose billions of Kwachas through unused project funds.

With US$100 million funding from the World Bank, the 22 contractors comprising both local and foreign are constructing various modern teaching and learning facilities, administration offices and girls’ hostels in various higher education institutions and technical colleges in Malawi.

Secretary for Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) Dr Ken Ndala pulled the string early this week when he summoned all the contractors across the country and their supervising consultants to devise acceleration plans to complete construction works by end of June this year.

“Given the absorption rate of resources and realising we have only 3-months left to end of the project, it will be a shame to return the money if the construction is not completed,” he warned, citing the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour, the supervising consulting firms and the contractors as would-be victims of shame. The warning was sounded early this week at Mponela in Dowa when he summoned the contractors and their supervising consulting firms.

MoEST and Ministry of Labour, Skills and Innovation (MoLSI) are joint implementers of the 5-year-long SAVE Project which will officially end on June 30, 2026. While there is considerable progress, construction for various structures under the Project has stalled.

With only three months left to the June 30, 2026 deadline, Dr Ndala asked the contractors to accelerate construction to fully absorb the allocated funds. He explained that failure to complete the project risks returning unspent funds which will undermine the project’s transformative potential for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and National Technical Colleges (NTCs) in Malawi.

He reminded the contractors that the the World Bank had ruled out a “no-cost-extension” provision which will unfortunately place the government to take over responsibility for completing the unfinished structures albeit with no guarantee of funding due to numerous budgetary demands.

A total of 31 institutions spread across the country from Chitipa up-north to Thyolo in the south and Salima and Mangochi to the east and Mchinji to the west are participating in the SAVE Project. They include the country’s nine public universities, seven national technical colleges and 15 community technical colleges across Malawi.

The SAVE Project was rolled out in 2021 with the objective of increasing equitable access to market-relevant skills in priority areas of the economy, especially for females and vulnerable youth. Targeted priority sectors of the economy include agriculture, tourism, transport, logistics, information and communication technology (ICT) and digital development, manufacturing, construction, energy, mining, climate resilience, and financial services.