Rabat – Morocco’s OCP Group will support Malawi in building its first fertilizer production plant, with the facility expected to begin operating before the 2027-2028 agricultural season as the southern African country looks to reduce its dependence on imported fertilizer.
Malawi’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Roza Mbilizi, announced the project on July 24 during a ceremony in Blantyre marking the delivery of 500 tons of Moroccan fertilizer. The donation is part of a broader pledge by Morocco to provide 1,000 tons of fertilizer after Malawi’s president appealed for support in response to food insecurity affecting the country.
The future plant is expected to help Malawi cut its reliance on imported fertilizer, which places pressure on the country’s foreign currency reserves. Morocco has already sent a team of experts from OCP Africa, the continental subsidiary of the Moroccan phosphate and fertilizer group, to assist with preparations.
The experts held a joint workshop with Malawian specialists to discuss plans for the future facility. Mbilizi called on both sides to keep the project on schedule, saying the momentum that began in March should continue until the objective is achieved. Authorities have not yet announced where the plant will be built or how much fertilizer it will produce.
The project comes as relations between Morocco and Malawi have grown closer in recent years.
In July 2021, Malawi inaugurated a consulate general in Laayoune in the presence of Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Malawi’s then Foreign Minister Eisenhower Nduwa Mkaka. During the visit, Malawi also announced the opening of an embassy in Rabat and reaffirmed its “firm and constant” support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.
At the time, the consulate was the 24th opened in the southern provinces and the 18th by an African country. Malawi also became the fifth member of the Southern African Development Community after the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Eswatini, and the Comoros to establish diplomatic representation in the Western Sahara.
