Assessing Opportunities and Constraints Related to Foreign Direct Investment in Blantyre, Malawi

In 2006, the Earth Institute at Columbia University launched the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI), an urban counterpart to the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), to assist nine mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MCI provides research and policy analysis in order to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to the cities. Currently, the principal destination for FDI in Malawi is agriculture. While Malawi's investment climate has been strengthened during the last decade, the country is still facing a number of major challenges. The objective of the workshop was to assess investment opportunities across eleven industries in Malawi: cassava, chili, coffee, pigeon pea, cotton, macadamia nuts, tea, diary, banking, telecom, and tourism.