Chilima also served as the Minister of Economic Planning and Development, as well as Head of Public Sector Reforms, a position he also previously held under the administration of former president Peter Mutharika.

Before joining politics, Chilima held key leadership positions in various multi-national companies including Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Airtel Malawi, where he rose to become Chief Executive Officer.

[19] Chilima was a member of the Leadership Council of Compact 2025, a partnership that develops and disseminates evidence-based advice to politicians and other decision-makers aimed at ending hunger and undernutrition by 2025,[20] and wrote on the topic of malnutrition.

[23] Chilima voiced his advocacy of environmentalism[24] and of physical fitness[25] and sports participation,[26] a stern critic of corruption in politics,[27][28][29] and an active supporter of Archdiocesan seminaries.

[32] On 10 June 2024, a Dornier 228 aircraft of the Malawi Defence Force carrying Chilima and eight others went missing in the Chikangawa Forest Reserve in the Northern Region while they were on their way to attend the funeral of former government minister Ralph Kasambara.

[33] On 11 June 2024, in a national address, Chakwera stated that Chilima and all the other passengers on the plane (including a former First Lady of Malawi, Patricia Shanil Muluzi) were confirmed dead in the crash.

[34] After Chilima's body was recovered, a state funeral service was held for him at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on 16 June, during which at least 41,000 people attended.

[35] He was buried on 17 June in his home village of Nsipe, in a ceremony that was also attended by Chakwera and former presidents Bakili Muluzi, Joyce Banda and Peter Mutharika.