New Irish High Commissioner to Malawi, Gerry Cunningham, has said Malawi has to be self-reliant as opposed to relying on humanitarian aid.
Cunningham made the call after presenting his letters of credence to President Peter Mutharika at the New State House on Thursday.
Cunningham said Ireland is implementing programmes that will help Malawians become self-reliant.
“I had a very pleasant discussion with the President. We discussed Ireland’s programmes of collaboration with the Government of Malawi and the civil society and the President expressed keen interest in many areas which Irish Aid is engaged in including agriculture, nutrition and cooperation,” Cunningham said.
“Another programme we are implementing is a call for communities to be able to move away from annual humanitarian catastrophes, trying to build up resilience of communities to be able to step away from annual disasters and that’s much true for humanitarian responses,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tanzania has called for stronger ties with Malawi, saying people in the two countries are not utilising fully the opportunities that the countries have.
After presenting his letters of credence to Mutharika, new Tanzanian High Commissioner, Benedict Mashiba, said areas of trade, transport and communication need to be enhanced to foster bilateral relations between the two countries.
“Our people are not taking advantage of the opportunities that we have that is the only shortfall; Otherwise, there are a lot of opportunities. Trade, communication and transport are major areas we need to enhance,” he said.
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