Having treasures within arm’s reach doesn’t guarantee wealth. History is full of souls who lived and died in poverty, oblivious to the immense riches that lay right under their noses.More than once, I have expressed my deep dismay at the sight of wilting maize plants in gardens near Lake Malombe as I drove to Mangochi. These struggling crops needed just a touch of moisture, yet only a few meters away lay an expanse of water vast enough to sustain them. Surprisingly, the little-known Lake Malombe is larger than the famous Lake Galilee in Israel, making it a hidden gem of untapped potential. With the right vision, it could be transformed into a thriving hub for water sports, fishing, bird watching, and—most crucially—irrigation to nourish crops both nearby and far beyond.In recent years, we’ve been told that Malawi sits on valuable deposits of precious minerals scattered across the country—niobium, aluminium, uranium (and other –iums), graphite, rutile, coal, and more. But does merely having them beneath our feet make us rich?The wealth in these mineral deposits is what I would call latent wealth. It is like the hidden image on a roll of film from the days before digital photography—a technology that still lingers in some corners, by the way. Back then, a captured image remained invisible until it underwent process of development. It had to be bathed in a chemical called developer and then another known as fixer before the picture fully emerged. This transformation required time, effort, and financial investment. Without such investment, the image would stay hidden, holding little to no value—just as untapped resources beneath our feet remain mere potential until we actively harness them.Likewise, if we are to turn our latent wealth into real wealth, we must invest significant time, effort, and financial resources. The rutile deposit at Kasiya is hailed as one of the largest of its kind in the world. Yet, the people of Kasiya, like many others across Malawi, are far from affluent. For most, the struggle is real; they go to bed unsure of where their next meal will come from, living in stark contrast to the immense wealth buried beneath their land.Our greatest weakness is that we allow foreigners to discover and exploit our mineral wealth while we remain mere spectators. Perhaps we lack the expertise to conduct our own exploratory ventures, but even if we did make these discoveries ourselves, we would likely struggle with the financial muscle needed to turn them into tangible wealth.As a nation, we must urgently and seriously tackle these challenges. The introduction of courses in mineralogy and related disciplines in some of our universities is a promising step toward bridging our knowledge gap.In 2020, I lost one of my closest childhood friends. We grew up together at Nkhoma, attended the same secondary school, and later pursued different paths—he went to the Polytechnic, while I went to Chancellor College. In our second year, he earned a scholarship to study geology in South Wales. Upon his return, he worked with various organizations, including World Vision, before joining a Dubai-based company prospecting for oil in Malawi. He threw himself wholeheartedly into the work, but sadly, he passed away before the results of his efforts were known.We need more young Malawians of my friend’s caliber—passionate, skilled, and driven—who can take mineral exploration to new heights and ensure that our country benefits from the wealth beneath its soil.The reality is that very few Malawians have the financial muscle to invest in mining. Expecting individual investors to take on such a capital-intensive venture is simply unrealistic. What we must do, however, is learn to form strong partnerships—pooling our resources to take on ambitious projects like mining.If internal funding falls short, we should look beyond our borders and attract foreign investors. This approach would allow us to benefit from foreign direct investment (FDI), but with one crucial condition—we must remain in control. No country has ever developed solely on its own resources; all have sought external investment. The difference is that successful nations ensure they never cede total control of their wealth to foreign hands. We must do the same.
As we contemplate mining, we must focus on two critical levels of the industry to maximize its benefits: extraction and value addition. Yes, extraction alone can generate substantial revenue, as many of the minerals I mentioned earlier command high prices on the international market. However, the real wealth lies in value addition – processing these raw minerals into finished products. This step creates jobs and fosters industrial growth.