OSISA - Malawi

Malawi: baseline information

Tue, 09 May 2006 14:00:09 -0400

Republic of Malawi

Population [WHO 2006]: 12.6 million
Annual population growth [WHO 2006]: 2.4 %
HDI (and rank out of 177) [UN 2005]: 0.404 (165th)
Life expectancy at birth [WHO 2006]: 41 years
Currency: Kwacha
Main exports: tobacco, tea, sugar
Capital city: Lilongwe
Provinces/ districts: 27 districts (Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Likoma, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Ntchisi, Phalombe, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba) in 3 regions

Links to more Malawi resources

Background

Tue, 09 May 2006 11:00:56 -0400

(a) Social, economic and political

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita Gross National Income of US$160 (World Bank, 2004). Income distribution is also very unequal.

70 per cent of the population lives below poverty line, the poorest population being smallholder farmers and their families, especially those living on the southern border with Mozambique

Agricultural sector has deteriorated in the past ten years.

80 per cent of the country’s population lives in rural areas where access to basic social services is severely limited.

The country is very densely populated with a very high rate of forest loss and a fragile environment.

Malawian parliament suspended

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:41:19 -0400

Malawi suspends parliament as government, opposition meet
Reuters Africa 9/5/2008

LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi's parliament has been suspended while the government and opposition hold talks to avert a political crisis that threatens to derail international donor programmes, senior officials said on Friday. "Parliament has not met for three days now because of the talks and I have been asked to adjourn until next week," parliament speaker Louis Chimango told Reuters ... Chimango has come under pressure to resign for not expelling more than 70 MPs who defected to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The United Democratic Front (UDF) and Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which together form a majority in parliament, want to remove the defecting DPP lawmakers under a constitutional provision that bans parliamentarians from switching parties. Chimango's refusal to remove the MPs for three years has led to political uncertainty. The latest dispute may delay debate of the 2008/2009 budget ... The UDF representative at the talks, George Ntafu, said that unless the government agreed to implement the provision banning party defections, the talks would fail. If the ban takes effect, the opposition would have the two-thirds majority needed to impeach wa Mutharika, but opposition leaders say they do not plan to seek his removal ...

Malawi sets new tobacco prices

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:41:51 -0500

Malawi sets new tobacco prices for buyers
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa

LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawian tobacco farmers are expected to be paid a minimum of $2.70 per kg this year for their crop, up from last year's $1.85 per kg, a senior government official said on Thursday. Tobacco is the southern African nation's mainstay, accounting for over 70 percent of Malawi's exports and 15 percent of its gross domestic product, but for the last two years low prices have led to cuts in production. Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Patrick Kabambe said that the new prices have been agreed upon with buyers and other stakeholders in the industry. "The minimum price set for the leaf is $2.20 cents which is more than last year minimum price of $1.85 cents" ... For many years tobacco prices had hovered around 70-90 U.S. cents per kg, far lower than the $1 the industry says it costs to produce one kg of the golden leaf. But from last year prices improved and farmers sold their crop between $1.70 and $1.60 per kg for the first time in several years, after President Bingu wa Mutharika ordered buyers to offer better prices or leave the country. Limbe Leaf Tobacco, majority owned by the Swiss-registered Continental Tobacco Company, and U.S.-based Alliance One Tobacco, are the active buyers who were ordered to peg the prices at a minimum price of $1.1 per kg and $1.7 for higher grade leaf. Wa Mutharika, who also farms tobacco, accused buyers of running a cartel to fix prices ... Last year, the government registered another international buyer, U.S.-based based Premiere Leaf, in a bid to get better prices. Two undisclosed Chinese companies are expected to buy the crop this year ...

Mutharika cancels pariamentary sitting

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:55:52 -0500

Stalemate between Malawi ruler, parliament intensifies
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa
By Mabvuto Banda LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi's president has cancelled a sitting of the southern African nation's parliament, raising the stakes in a political feud that threatens the government and implementation of international donor programmes. President Bingu wa Mutharika had vowed to prevent parliamentarians

Malawi annual inflation creeping up

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:42:13 -0500

Malawi inflation pushes up to 7.7 pct y/y
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa
By Mabvuto Banda LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi's inflation jumped to 7.7 percent year-on-year in January, from 7.5 percent in December, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said on Thursday. The NSO said in a statement higher fuel prices were the main driver of the rise of inflation in January ... "The current rise in inflation is due mainly to the recent upward

Australian uranium mine in Malawi

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:46:19 -0500

Paladin Energy Gets Financing to Develop Malawi Uranium Mine
Bloomberg - USA
14 (Bloomberg) -- Paladin Energy Ltd., the Australian company building a uranium mine in Malawi, got bank approval for the remaining funding of $167 million to develop the project. The financing comprises a 7-year project-finance loan of $145 million, a cost-overrun loan of $12 million and a

Malawi introduces maize rations

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:17:02 -0500

Malawi starts rationing maize as stocks fall
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa
By Mabvuto Banda LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi has started rationing the sale of maize across the country following a report in parliament that the country's maize stocks are dwindling ... The southern African nation harvested 3.1 million tonnes of maize in the last planting season -- its biggest in 10 years. The government

Six more killed in Malawi floods

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:45:55 -0500

Malawi: Six killed in Malawi floods as President tours affected area
Afrique en ligne - Angers,France
Blantyre, Malawi - Six people have been confirmed dead in Lower Shire V alley district of Chikwawa, Malawi as President Bingu wa Mutharika Sunday made an aerial tour of the flood-prone area where close to 50, 000 people have

Chilumpha trial scheduled for May

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:42:03 -0500

Treason trial for Malawi Vice President slated for May
Journal Chrétien - Paris,France
The long-awaited treason trial of Malawi’s Vice President, Cassim Chilumpha, will start in May 2008, and the hearing will be open to the public, his lawyer Viva Nyimba said Tuesday. Chilumpha was arrested in April 2006 along with two businessmen — Yusuf Matumula and Rashid Nembo — for allegedly attempting to assassinate President Bingu wa Mutharika and overthrow

Paladin postpones uranium project

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:32:07 -0500

Paladin postpones commissioning of Malawi uranium project
Mineweb - London,England,UK
Perth-based Paladin Energy Limited (ASX, TSX:PDN) will not roll-out production at its Kayelekera Uranium project in the northern region district of Malawi in the last quarter of 2008 as earlier planned, instead, commissioning and ramp-up of output will now begin in March 2009 ... the Malawi government on

Mozambique-Malawi rail link cut by rain

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:44:09 -0500

Heavy rains interrupt Mozambique and Malawi rail link
Journal Chrétien - Paris,France
Heavy rains that have been pounding Mozambique’s northern Nampula province have cut the rail link with Malawi, rail officials said on Monday. The railway line between Mozambique’s Nacala port to Malawi was interrupted, when the downpours damaged a 30-metre stretch of track of the Northern Development Corridor (CDN), the privately-led

Malawi: G4S workers to strike

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:38:32 -0500

G4S Malawi security workers call for strike tomorrow
Union Network International - Nyon,Switzerland
Union members called for a strike against security company G4S to begin Wednesday, January 30, but the company was able to obtain an injuction against the strike late Tuesday night. The workers and union complain that the company's wage proposal will only deepen their poverty.

Malawi: state airline privatisation on hold

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:00:18 -0500

Malawi puts state airline privatisation on hold
Reuters - USA
By Mabvuto Banda LILONGWE, 28 (Reuters) - Malawi has put the privatisation of its state-owned airline on hold after failing to come to an agreement with the leading bidder, South Africa's Comair, Transport Minister Henry Mussa said on Monday. Malawi, one of Africa's poorest nations, was considering

Malawi organisations challenge EPAs

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:46:13 -0500

MALAWI: ''Trade Capacity is Worse Despite Preferential Access''
IPS - Italy
LILONGWE, Jan 28 (IPS) - Malawians still await the details of the impending economic partnership agreement (EPA) which their government is entering into with the European Union (EU). Ten of the country’s most influential non-governmental (NGOs) have embarked on various initiatives to signal their grave concern about the implications of the EPA for Malawi. The EPAs are a new set of deals aimed at creating a free trade area