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Archbishop George Tambala of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe is championing a collaborative approach to financial management, emphasizing the importance of expert consultation.

Archbishop Tambala convened a meeting with stakeholders at Maula Parish in Lilongwe on Thursday, 13th February 2025 to discuss the Archdiocese’s finance and investment plan.

“We as Archdiocese, especially looking at our own, I call it moto, ‘Mpingo Ndife Tonse’ (we are all the church). I think one of the things that has been missing was to consult these people,” Archbishop Tambala explained. “Now what we have here, businesspeople, people who are into investments, is one critical area. So, we had to do this because it’s part of the church and it’s a very critical part of the church. It’s a major stakeholder in the church and they are partners with us in the church.”

The Archbishop highlighted the mutual benefits of this collaboration. “If you talk of benefits, I think the first thing we have to learn from them. So, I insisted that we are here to listen. The wisdom that these people have, the expertise, the professionalism, this I think we can tap into that for the good of the church. So that’s a benefit. The other thing is that I think for them also, it’s a two-way system. They also, as they participate in the ideas of investment for the Archdiocese, we are also inviting them to join us in some of the investment ideas and businesses that we do. So that’s a benefit. It’s a two-way system kind of a thing.”

Mr. William Mwanza, chairperson of the Lilongwe Archdiocese Finance and Investment Council, underscored the meeting’s significance in developing a robust financial strategy.

“Yes, the Archbishop George Desmond Tambala actually commissioned the Finance and Investment Council of the Archdiocese to develop an investment strategy for the Archdiocese. This is really to try and assist the Archdiocese move away from some of the traditional sources of funding that it currently utilizes,” Mwanza said.

He further explained the need for this shift.

“You know very well that we’ve depended on missionary funds for the setup of a lot of parishes around. We also depend on contributions from the lay faithful through the parishes and also the industries and institutions which limit some funds to the diocese. But in a very difficult economic environment we’ve actually noted that they’re dwindling funds both internationally and also locally that the Archdiocese is able to access and so there’s now a strong drive to actually invest in strong businesses that will generate significant profits and those profits will be ploughed back into the church to take forward its pastoral, its social and its financial sustainability mission. So this was the intention to really invite Catholic professionals but also business people to come and advise the Finance and Investment Council as it embarks on developing this strategy. So we’ve actually got a lot of good ideas, things to look out for, things to consider as we’ll be getting on this process of developing this investment strategy.”

Limbani Nsapato, an education expert from St Padre Pio Parish who attended the meeting, called for active participation from the community.

“Yes, I think from this meeting it is important that as Catholics and as Christians we need to support the Archdiocese because the project, the program that has come up to enhance the investment is very critical for our spiritual and social well-being. We need to put all this work in prayer and ensure that we are available to support the Church through our skills, the talents that we have. Let us not bury them, let us come forward and provide support to the Church. In that way I think we’ll help the Church in its evangelization mission but also we’ll help our country to develop spiritually as well as socially,” Nsapato urged.

The consultation brought together business leaders and professionals from various fields to discuss how they can contribute to the Archdiocese’s pastoral, social, and financial goals.

Highlights of the event (By Edwin Sitima)