Ireland has long been to the forefront of the global initiative to support debt cancellation for the least developed countries, including Malawi.
Since 1996 we have provided over €116 million for international debt cancellation initiatives, despite the fact our development aid has always been untied and provided on grant terms, and never as loans. We can be proud that Ireland has contributed our full financial share to both of the main elements of the debt relief framework, namely the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).
Malawi became a partner country for Ireland in 2007 and our aid budget in 2013 amounted to some €19.5 million. Our current country strategy for Malawi links the crucial issues of food, nutrition and good governance with a focus on those communities most vulnerable to the interwoven challenges of poverty, hunger and climate change.
As highlighted in the Department’s Africa Strategy, Ireland supports a number of important initiatives to encourage more effective and equitable tax raising models in Africa. Following previous collaboration between the Revenue Commissioners and the Rwanda Revenue Authority, my Department is discussing a broader framework of cooperation between the Revenue Commissioners and our partner countries. This currently includes the possibility of bilateral collaboration with the Malawian Revenue Authorities based on their specific needs.