The World Bank grants $350 million for a hydroelectric project in Malawi

The board of directors of the World Bank has accepted a $350 million grant to help Malawi with a big hydropower storage project that will make the country’s power generation much more efficient.

In a statement released late Thursday night, the World Bank said that the Mpatamanga Hydropower Storage Project would help power more than a million new homes and make thousands of jobs possible.

The public-private partnership will be Malawi’s biggest foreign direct investment ever. It will cost more than $1.5 billion all together.

A group made up of Electricité de France, SN Malawi BV (owned by British International Investment), Norfund, and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) was chosen by the Malawian government in September 2022 to lead the project’s development and execution.

According to its website, the project will build two dams along the Shire River between two current hydropower facilities. This will double Malawi’s installed hydropower capacity and give the project a total generation capacity of 358 megawatts.