Malawi’s Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola has made an appeal to the global community on the need for unconditional financial aid and investment towards African nations to aid their transition to resilient low-carbon transportation systems.
Matola made the call while addressing a high-level panel at the Transforming Transportation 2024 event in Washington D.C. on March 20th, which was held under the theme “Mobilizing Finance for Climate Action”.
Matola cited energy and transport challenges as major factors affecting development progress in Malawi and many other African nations, in areas of infrastructure and access to markets.
“The issues of energy and transport are intertwined. They cannot be separated. It’s a chicken and egg situation,” Matola said, referring to Malawi’s unrelenting struggle with infrastructure.
The energy Minister therefore urged the international community not to leave Africa behind, and to consider African nations as partners in global development, which he said can be achieved by global finance bodies taking a partnership approach towards financial aid.
“When it comes to infrastructure, you give us many pages of conditions to fulfil, and in the end, you label us a risk country where you cannot invest,” lamented Matola.
The energy Minister also called for urgent investment in the implementation of education reforms in Africa, in order to build a future generation that is equipped with potential to adapt to the constant demands for innovative interventions to climate change.