In 2025, the Malawi Government laid a strong foundation for mining sector growth, which was projected to have surged by 6.3 percent and improved its contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) from less than one percent. Before February 2014 when Kayelekera Uranium Mine in Karonga District was put on “care and maintenance”, the sector’s contribution to GDP was at about 10 percent, but since then the share dropped to less than one percent and was recorded at 0.7 percent in 2024, according to the Malawi Government Annual Economic Report 2025. But with increased construction activities, including in mining projects at development stages, the restart of Kayelekera Mine in August 2025 and efforts to strengthen policy oversight were expected to expand the sector despite existing bottlenecks.
Reads in part the annual economic report: “The sector is expected to expand to 6.3 percent in 2025 from 4.8 percent in 2024. “Growth will be supported by strong demand for rock aggregate for construction as well as renewed activity in large-scale mining. The report further said the establishment of the Mines and Minerals Regulatory Authority and the Malawi Mining Investment Company enhanced the sector’s performance.
Going forward, the government expected the mining sector output to rise further to 7.2 percent in 2026, reinforcing expectations that the sector could become a key contributor to the overall economic output. The first yellow cake production achieved at Kayelekera Mine in early September marked a significant turnaround of the mining sector, which for the first time in a decade has seen a consignment of large-scale mineral exports dispatched. This milestone prompted the Malawi Chamber of Mines and Energy to project that the mine’s restart, coupled with progress in other large-scale mining projects, will drive the sector’s contribution to GDP to between four and seven percent.
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Malawi Chamber of Mines and Energy national coordinator Grain Malunga said apart from Kayelekera Mine, the estimate is in line with significant progress registered at Kanyika Niobium Mine in Mzimba and Kangankunde Rare Earth Project in Balaka, which are expected to roll out within two years. “With Lotus Resources already in full action at Kayelekera Mine, Global Metals is expecting first production in early 2026 and Lindian’s Kangankunde Rare Earth Project is progressing well, we anticipate the sector to contribute 12 percent to GDP by 2027,” he said. Apart from these three projects, two other large-scale mining projects registered progress in the year with Mkango Resources Limited and Sovereign Metals securing funding for mine construction and finalising the bankable feasibility study respectively.
“The US Government-owned International Development Finance Corporation is also evaluating a potential $100 million [K175 billion] direct loan, which would represent a significant step toward enabling full project development financing,” reads Mkango Resources Limited quarterly report. National Planning Commission communications specialist Thom Khanje said before its closure in 2014, Kayerekera Mine single handedly drove the sector to contribute about 10 percent to GDP.
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