Today, Malawi publishes their report assessing projects with the highest budgets in vital infrastructure industries, including education, health, energy, transport, agriculture, WASH, governance, communication, local government and economy. 30 procuring entities were selected with two projects each – one with the highest budget, and the other at random selection.

Malawi’s Infrastructure Transparency Index (ITI) report details information about the ITI, Malawi’s methodology, their results, and recommendations. This includes objectives; principles; structure; evaluation process; protocols; data collection; procuring entities by sample, score, budget, type, project, and sector; the four dimensions of the ITI; and challenges. 

The ITI evaluates infrastructure transparency across four areas:

• the enabling environment represented by the regulatory framework and national digital platforms;
• the capacities and processes that facilitate transparency in the institutions that carry out public works;
• inclusive citizen participation in the construction of public works; and
• the publication of information in the project cycle. 

Malawi’s score showed an exceptionally high score with an enabling environment at 78.20/100, but also demonstrated that progress needs to be made in the other areas of the score – with citizen participation scoring the lowest at 3.72/100. Their overall score was 25.41/100. 

The report evidenced the success of aspects like their Presidential support, the work of CoST Malawi, multi-stakeholder working to involve the private sector and public awareness campaigns. More than half of the sub-indicators in the enabling environment category scored 100/100. It also acknowledged where further work is needed, with key recommendations provided:

• Strengthening institutional capacities through targeted training and standardized disclosure protocols;
• Institutionalizing transparency practices by mandating routine publication of infrastructure data and integrating ITI compliance into audits;
• Enhancing citizen engagement via structured feedback mechanisms and community monitoring;
• Leveraging digital platforms for open data and real-time project tracking; and
• Encouraging peer learning among entities, replicating the best practices of high-performing PDEs such as the Water Boards.

The ITI is just one of many activities Malawi has been doing to drive transparency, accountability and participation in infrastructure. Last year, their Multi-Stakeholder Group won an award for his work in CoST Malawi, Malawi has worked on building their existing success in climate finance projects and CoST published an impact story on how they’ve engaged over 50,000 people.