Politics

Germany has had an embassy in Malawi since 1964. Dialogue with Malawi’s government and development cooperation are the cornerstones of relations.

Development Minister Gerd Müller visited Malawi in January 2019. It was the first visit by a German Minister to the country in a long time.

Economic relations

There is little in the way of German direct investment in Malawi. German trade with Malawi is poorly developed and largely dependent on crop yields and price developments for raw tobacco and sugar.

Malawi’s prime imports from Germany include electrical appliances, vehicles and machines.

Development cooperation

Malawi is one of the world’s least developed countries. It ranks 169th out of 191 countries on the UN Human Development Index.

Germany is one of the country’s most important partners. Its bilateral development with Malawi focuses on basic education, healthcare including family planning, HIV/AIDS and social security, as well as education and the development of the private sector in rural areas. Important cross-cutting issues include public finance management and gender equality.

The most recent intergovernmental consultations took place in July 2021. In 2021 and 2022, Malawi received pledges of around 100 million euro in bilateral funds, including COVID funds. In 2023, a pledge of five million euro was made to improve the food situation. The next intergovernmental consultations are scheduled to take place at the end of 2023.

Culture and education

Education is a focus of Germany’s cooperation with Malawi. Germany is helping Malawi to train teachers and to construct school buildings. Furthermore, it is helping to provide school meals in order to improve both nutrition and pupils’ successful attendance of lessons at primary schools with daily meals. German is taught as a foreign language at a school in Malawi. A city twinning partnership has been in place between Hanover and Blantyre for over 50 years. A team of paleoanthropologists under Germany’s leadership is conducting hominid research in Malawi and played a major role in the establishment of the Cultural and Museum Centre Karonga.