Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda believes the country is making progress in advancing clean energy initiatives.
Nyirenda, who also serves as the Chairperson of Legal Education and Head of the Bar, made these remarks in France at the Paris Arbitration Week, where he gave a keynote address titled “Energy Transition in Africa: Arbitration at the Crossroads of Sustainability and Development”.
He said Malawi has strengthened its legal institutional frameworks to ensure that energy projects are bankable, sustainable and equitable.
“Our approach is simple: honour contracts, uphold the rule of law and deliver for the people,” he said.
Despite Africa’s vast natural resources that can produce power, Nyirenda lamented that over 600 million people on the continent still have no access to electricity.
He noted that as of 2019, Africa accounted for just 2 percent of global renewable energy capacity.
With this trend, the Attorney General warned that achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7—universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy by 2030—remains a challenge.
He called on African countries to build their energy plans around laws that protect, politics that unifies and sovereignty that empowers.
Last month, the country launched the Malawi International Arbitration Centre.
Chief Justice Rezine Mzikamanda said the Centre — which is under the Malawi Law Society and the Malawi Confederation Chambers of Commerce and Industries — seeks to cut costs related to corporate legal disputes.
