President Arthur Peter Mutharika has conceded that power outages have negatively affected efforts to woe more investors hence affecting the country’s economic development.

Mutharika said this in Lilongwe when he opened the 2018 Malawi Investment Forum (MIF) at the Bingu International Convention Center (BICC).

While calling upon participants to use the platform in sharing information on investment and trade opportunities, the Malawi leader said his government is working on a permanent plant to eradicate the problem.

The forum which runs from June 11 to 12, 2018 will showcase products and services that are produced in key sectors of the country’s economy such as energy, manufacturing, tourism, transport, infrastructure, agriculture and agro-processing.

Delegates from countries including Netherlands, India, Ireland, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, South Africa, China, Zambia and Zimbabwe are participating.

Notable investors who were present at the official opening include South African based Prophet Shepherd Bushiri.

Bushiri owns Shepherd Bushiri Investments (SBI), a global investments company which has operations in Malawi.

The forum will be held under the theme: ‘Promoting Private Sector-led Growth: Key to Malawi’s Sustainable Development’ and it will attract business captains from in and outside Malawi.