China extends loan to Malawi for construction of international stadium

Chinese government on Wednesday signed a 70 million U.S. dollars loan with Malawi government for the construction of a 40,500-capacity international stadium in Malawi capital Lilongwe. Signing the Framework Agreement in Lilongwe, Chinese ambassador to Malawi Pan Hejun said the construction of the stadium would commence very soon. "The stadium is part of China-funded projects in Malawi and the construction will commence after the completion of yet another China-funded project, the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), by the end of 2012," Pan said. Pan thanked Malawi government for its adherence to agreements between the two governments and he said the Chinese government would continue to support Malawi government's infrastructural development programs. In his remarks, Finance Minister Ken Lipenga said the signing of the Framework Agreement was part of the approval processes for the financial resources to be made available by the Chinese Government for the project. "The resources will be provided to the government of Malawi through a concessional loan with a repayment period of 20 years (including a grace period of 7 years) and an annual interest of 2 percent," said Lipenga. He said the stadium had been designed to Olympic standards and that apart from the capacity of 40,500 spectators, it would have other facilities namely: synthetic running track, conference rooms, television circuit, shopping and exhibition rooms, press galleries, treatment rooms, car park and bathrooms. The minister noted that with a stadium of this standard Malawi would be able to host international matches alongside the Kamuzu Stadium located in the country's commercial capital, Blantyre. "It was very disheartening to note that as a country we were not sure that we could be able to host the African Cup of Nations foot ball match between Malawi and Ghana because Kamuzu Stadium was declared unfit to host an international match," said Lipenga. The construction of the Olympic-standard-stadium will be amongst major infrastructure projects that the Chinese government has supported in Malawi. The others include the construction of Parliament Building, construction of 101 km Karonga – Chitipa Road, International Conference Center with the country's first Five Star Hotel and 14 presidential villas, and the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST).