RBM’s Thrive project targets export value-chains

The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) is set to implement the Transforming High Potential Resilient Value-Chains (Thrive) Project, a $50 million (about K86.6 billion) World Bank-funded initiative designed to strengthen export-oriented businesses and improve foreign exchange earnings.

The World Bank approved the $50 million grant for the Thrive Project on May 6 2026, and the financing agreement was signed on June 19. Parliament subsequently passed the authorisation Bill on July 29, paving the way for the government to access the funds.

The project will be implemented jointly with the Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism.

In a concept note published on its website, RBM said the initiative targets direct exporters, firms that derive at least 10 percent of their sales from exports, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that supply them with raw materials.

The project has three main components: strengthening export value chains through an Export Readiness Programme (ERP) for new and returning exporters, financing exporters and productive SMEs, and project management.

Qualifying export-oriented SMEs will access financing in local and foreign currencies through a public credit guarantee scheme and a line of credit channelled through participating financial institutions (PFIs), according to RBM.

Under the credit guarantee scheme, the Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation (Maiic) will provide partial guarantees covering up to 50 percent of the risk on portfolios of loans issued by PFIs to direct and indirect exporter SMEs.

“The guarantee operates at portfolio level. Maiic does not assess, approve, or guarantee individual SME transactions,” reads part of the concept note.

In an interview, Minister of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism Simon Itaye described Thrive as a critical intervention, saying it would also strengthen links between banks and SMEs.

“When the Thrive project comes, the banks will be the ones extending some of the lines of credit, so they need to start now working with the farmers to ensure that they can benefit from those lines of credit,” he said.

Coffee Association of Malawi secretary general Kondwani Nanchukwa welcomed the initiative, describing it as an appropriate response to the foreign exchange shortages that have affected the country for some time.

He said the coffee sector should be considered among the value chains targeted for support because of its potential to generate foreign exchange.

“We have the land, we have interested farmers, the only challenges being limited financing and limited knowledge on export trade,” Nanchukwa said.

Meanwhile, Bankers Association of Malawi chief executive Lyness Nkungula said banks were more willing to finance agriculture than they were a decade ago, although challenges remained, particularly among smallholder farmers.

She said many farmers struggled to access loans because they did not maintain adequate financial records.

“Banking works with records, so we need to educate them more to keep records so that they can access the loans that are there,” she said.

Nkungula added that the banking sector needed to rethink how financial resources were structured and deployed to support Malawi’s long-term development ambitions under Malawi 2063.

“To unlock this potential, we must embrace a new financing paradigm: blended financing models that de-risk agricultural lending and crowd in private capital,” she said.

Parliament has passed the authorisation Bill, paving the way for a $50 million grant from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) to support the project.

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