Germany has had a mission in Malawi since February 1964 (an Embassy since September 1964). Development cooperation is an important pillar of bilateral relations alongside political dialogue. Germany is one of the most important partners of Malawi, which ranks 172 of 193 states on the United Nations Development index.

President Chakwera visited Germany in August 2024, the first official visit of a Malawian Head of State since 2010. The Malawian Foreign Minister, Nancy Tembo, visited Germany in April 2023.
German bilateral development with Malawi focuses on healthcare including family planning, climate mitigation, social security and the development of the private sector in rural areas. Important cross-cutting issues include public finance management and gender equality. The most recent intergovernmental consultations took place in December 2023 when Germany pledged around 70 million euro for Malawi in bilateral funds. The next intergovernmental consultations are scheduled to take place in 2025.

In the sphere of education, Germany provided support to Malawi for training teaching staff, building schools and providing school meals to improve pupils’ participation in lessons at primary schools. German is taught as a foreign language at a school in Malawi.

A team of paleoanthropologists under Germany’s leadership is conducting hominid research in Malawi and played a major role in the establishment of the Cultural and Museum Centre Karonga.

There is little in the way of German direct investment in Malawi. German trade with Malawi is poorly developed and largely dependent on crop yields and price developments for raw tobacco and sugar. Malawi’s prime imports from Germany include electrical appliances, vehicles and machines.

A city twinning partnership has been in place between Hanover and Blantyre since 1968.