Air transport is included in one of the six thematic areas of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy II (MGDS II) with the aim of achieving a reliable, competitive, and sustainable aviation sector that operates within an improved regulatory and institutional framework. However, the civil aviation system in Malawi has a number of significant safety, security and operational deficiencies. It is indeed suffering from years of under-investment and a lack of infrastructure, maintenance and training as well as an ineffective safety oversight system.
In this context, the EIB investment programme seeks to achieve and maintain a self-sustaining civil aviation environment that ensures safety, enables the provision of services in a reliable and efficient manner, and facilitates the expansion of trade and tourism in Malawi. Under this programme, the overall objective of the Technical Assistance project “Support to the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA)” (2017-2021), implemented by NTU with a budget of almost EUR1.5 million, is to facilitate the timely and cost-effective implementation of the EIB funded Project components by supporting the Project Implementation Unit on project preparation, procurement, tender document review, tendering and evaluation, contracting and contract implementation, reporting to the EIB, knowledge transfer to the DCA, and general supervision of the implementation of the works. The Technical Assistance project aims at redressing safety, security and operational issues at the Kamuzu International Airport – KIA (Lilongwe) and Chileka International Airport – CIA (Blantyre) and improving institutional capacity of the Malawi’s aviation sector.
Kick-off meeting in Luxembourg (July 2017)
How we are doing it
The main project activity is the provision of Technical Assistance for the procurement of Essential Safety Equipment to the two international airports (KIA and CIA), including Fire extinction station and vehicles, power station, airport lighting systems, perimetral fence renovation and runway pavement study and renovation. NTU is providing:
- Support in the design and pre-tender phase,
- Support in the tender and pre-construction phase,
- Support in the construction phase and
- Overall administrative support.
The overall procurement procedure is implemented in strict compliance with EIB’s Guide to Procurement, FIDIC’s standards and the DCA’s Procurement Policies.
Furthermore, NTU team is providing Capacity Building to the PIU of the DCA in the areas of procurement, project management, ICAO airport safety regulations, etc.
Impact
NTU’s services in the procurement process are giving the opportunity to both airport to possess reliable and adequate safety and security equipment and infrastructure. The work of NTU is also supporting in the implementation of suitable controls and organizational to effectively manage:
- cost related issues,
- project planning,
- coordination between all the various stakeholders,
- implementation monitoring and
- obtention of decisions from DCA.
In support of the PIU, NTU’s services are provided for the implementation of authority levels together with the overall decision-making framework within which the authority levels will apply. The decision-making framework, that NTU is defining, gives clear roles and responsibilities of the committee, delegations and reporting lines.
Thanks to its services implemented within this project, NTU is contributing to Malawi complying with international civil aviation standards to ensure a safe operating environment for airlines and passengers in the future, to safeguard future essential air access and thereby to facilitate growth in aviation activity.
13 February 2019, site visit to Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe with the participation of the PIU, Airport Commander, EIB Delegation, Project Team Leader as well as NTU Project Director and Contract Manager.
Inception Phase – Field visit (August 2017)