His Excellency the State President, Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, has launched the country’s first ever National Data Centre with an assurance to Malawians that the digital infrastructure will help government make data-driven policy decisions in its quest of improving livelihoods.

The President observed that his administration has remained on track to build the hardware and software that will enable Malawian individuals, government departments and the private to store and access and share useful data online and in real time.

“The National Data Centre is therefore a perfect example of the progress we are determined to make against all odds through phases of preparation, partnership, and perseverance. It all started with a vision I cast for the country in May 2021, a vision to achieve job creation, wealth creation, and food security by investing in digitalization as one of three growth accelerators. The next building block after that was the launch of the National Fibre Backbone Phase II. The next building block was to establish strong partners for our digitalization agenda, which is why last year I directed the Minister of Information to ensure that Government’s digitalization agenda is being adequately supported by the ICT Association of Malawi,” said President Chakwera.

He said since the National Data Centre is fully operational, it is a key building block for the country’s digital economy.

“Now that the National Data Centre is complete, we can start cutting costs. We can also guarantee the security of data for those who want to invest in our country thus making Malawi a preferred investment destination,” said the Malawi leader.

Leo Chen, President of Huawei Southern Africa Region, said the National Data Centre is key to Malawi’s development.

He further said the Chakwera administration is underscoring a point that ICT and digitisation should be at the hub of the country’s development as enshrined in the country’s development blueprint, Malawi 2063.

“We appreciate the guidance that President Dr Lazarus Chakwera gave us last year when we rolled out the project. Now we can confidently say Malawi is now treading on the right path towards the global village,” said Chen.

In addition, all government institutions will also be connected to enable speedy delivery of services such as E-Health, E-Government, E-Commerce and E-learning among others. The centre will also provide services to non-governmental organisations and private entities.

The National Data Centre has three key partners, Huawei Technologies, the Ministry of information a& Digitalisation and the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom).