The Mponela to Ntchisi road built with government funds from 2005 to 2007 was the first major road built by the government using domestic revenue rather than external financing. The road from Ntchisi connects to the M1 at Mponela. Mponela and Ntchisi are districts that have a high level of agricultural activities and the access to the markets through the M1 has been made easy. Donors had refused to fund the road, arguing that it was not an economic priority. However, the government viewed the road as an important social service that would enable people to travel in the rainy season and farmers to more affordably travel to the market to sell their goods. Because the government used the country’s own domestic resources, this difference of opinion did not matter – they did not need any permission to build this road. Moreover, this road was built faster than other roads financed through donor aid and loans, such as the Chitipa to Karonga road. Because the resources were already there, the authorities had greater flexibility to get the road constructed more quickly. The road will also make it easy for locals to access quality healthcare from the referral Kamuzu Central Hospital in the capital city of Lilongwe.