Neef’s K1.6bn Blantyre building sits idle

National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef), now renamed Malawi Enterprise Development Fund (Medf), has left idle a building bought from Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) for K1.6 billion last year, raising concerns about management of public assets. Several checks at the property, formerly Macra House, along Salmin Amour Road at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre found signs of neglect, including visible deterioration, absence of security guards during daytime and lack of lighting at night. Following the onset of the rainfall season, grass had overgrown on the premises and remained unattended for weeks before being cut early this month.

However, on Monday several workers were seen clearing parts of the premises, with some clearing fertiliser stored in the main building. Medf has confirmed purchasing the property from Macra. In a written response last Tuesday, the fund’s chief executive officer Kayisi Sadala said they fully paid K1.6 billion to acquire the building and plans to occupy it from April 1 2026.

He said: “Since the previous owners had to remove their stuff such as network infrastructure and others, there is need for maintenance works and refurbishment to suit our needs before occupying the building.” But Sadala, who was appointed in January this year, did not indicate when the renovations will start but said the premises are guarded with Medf property kept inside. “As for electricity, that is one of the issues we are to look into during the maintenance and refurbishment phase which we will be implementing shortly,” he said. Macra spokesperson Limbani Nsapato confirmed on Tuesday that the authority sold the building to Neef and that the transaction was completed.

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Meanwhile, governance commentator Benedicto Kondowe said the condition of the building reflects poorly on management of public resources and undermines public confidence in how scarce resources are managed. Macra advertised the sale of the building at a reserve price of K1.1 billion in February 2025, a year after relocating its headquarters to Lilongwe. The authority has since moved back to a new executive head office in Blantyre following an order President Peter Mutharika issued in October last year. Neef is headquartered in Lilongwe and provides soft loans to various people including small-scale entrepreneurs, farmers, youth and women.

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