BUDGET IN PARLIAMENT

The Honourable Members of Parliament are meeting mainly to discus the 2015/2016 fiscal plan.  As a Trade Expert am interested in trade related aspects of the budget.
There is need that key sectors being affected by international trade, particularly where exports are declining be budgeted for problem analysis: should we negotiate for markets, should we promote our products, should we look for investros in the sector, is it dumping, subsidies affecting competition against us, is it trade facilitation issues and challenges, is it lack of skills, quality issues or what?

What we have noticed in the past years is allocation that caters for salaries and consumables. Period. The actual allocation to the Ministry of Industry and Trade is even much much lower. Of course, its not deliberate but the national purse is to small to share among ourselves according to our needs.

XENOPHOBIA

As per what we have heard from South Africa it means poor local black people killing poor fellow black foreigners. What a Shameeeeeeee! Disgusting and primitive. Its the final reaction of a greedy squad.

I say sorry to you all victims. Use your experiences to build Malawi and make a living out of it. May God be with you. Amen!

WTO TRADE FACILITATION AGREEMENT

Least Developed Countries have welcomed the WTO Bali TFA. It will help to unlock some deliberate government created bottle necks. Not that government plan to have these bottle necks but that they are not doing enough to improve them on their own. My experience would tell me that these existing bottlenecks are human other institutional plants. The employees get rewards from companies or individuals who are in haste by playing facilitator.

I welcome TFA target of borders and system efficiency and/or re-engineering.  Like the National Single Window. This will be hugely welcome to MSMEs who pay too much handouts to cross the border. Poor brothers and sisters! Lets hope things will change particularly at the borders. It a shame whenever I visit border posts I see a group of cruelly police officers off main processing offices coercing individuals with loaded bicycles to give them money. The consequences have been either the cross border will not make profits(which is always not much after all) or will never come back to buy from the other side of  uniformed 'beggars'.

Am part of  planning and implementing the TFA in my country, I can't wait to start measuring the success of it or challenges.

The sad part is that we can hardly finance our ambition from local treasury office. Thank you donors and potential donor partners

LEADERS ARE PLAYING WITH MALAWI'S ECONOMY

I have quietly observed economic developments the past two years. In one way or the other I have participated in developing policy recommendations to government as a technical person in areas of trade. What has actually come out from the cabinet or parliament is meager such that we should not see major positive changes soon. Which means medium term strategic plans spanning 2012-2017 are idle without much needed regulatory and policy changes.

Political leaders focus much of their energy on popularity. In Malawi popularity is not only based on performance, its source is political backing not performance. The new regime is however promising because it is listening and has initiated some radical reforms in the civil service. Let me also mention that the One Stop Shop at mitc to facilitate investments has received tremendous support from government.

Industrialising Malawi

Malawi is in a serious drive to scale up industrialisation after recording widening trade deficits.

What steps or strategies  should Malawi take to achieve its dream. Mind you the wish has been there ever since it got independence. The following strategies have been used before:

• Import substitution strategies
• Investment incentives such as tax free packages for investors equipment and tax holidays
• Open trade
• Joining regional trade integration arrangements
• And now its the national export strategy

But little has been achieved with more old manufacturing companies closing. Losing to new competitors who have their manufacturing plants in far away countries. What is wrong with us, any suggestions?

What can Malawi do to break through?

The Reason we have Perpertual Foreign Exchange Shortages

Malawi Recent Trade Statistics http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/january/tradoc_147317.pdf

Malawi has challenges to connect to the world or regional value chains.  That is why it cannot produce and sell much to its external customers. This tells us that Malawi is not well linked in this global village.

Let us concentrate on services. But in services too you need to well linked and connected. Services are supported by optimum networking.

Its time to shift gear!!!!!

CAN MALAWI GET ON THE ROAD TO PROSPERITY?

I hate reading "Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world," yet it is true. Those who have been given chance to lead Malawi have tried all sorts of tricks and tactics within their reach but have failed to make a break through leaving their subjects in abject poverty. So before answering the question of this article I need to first answer why Malawi is failing to get on the road to prosperity that it is still moving in a circle of the poverty trap.

Most commentators: political, economic, historical, etc have put the blame on various elements that stops our economic and social economic progress. Among the highlighted ones are colonialism that did not want natives to be empowered; dictatorship that stuck to retrogressive policies and banished rich families; education that some democratic leaders got dizzy and lost in macro-economic management; corruption that institutional managers  have not been the best in terms or merit in managing institutions but could better be used as vehicles for corruption thereby enriching participants mostly the elite; governance that the democratic system disrupts government strategies as each new regime overhauls senior government controlling officers at starts from scratch  and many more....

I believe Malawi need to address the following salient issues if it is to get on the road to prosperity

1. To motivate Malawians who are hard working in terms of industrialisation buy not milking them too much through horror taxes
2. Keep interest rates and inflation at minimum through sound economic management - any government regime that threatens this should be impeached
3. Malawians should be properly helped and encouraged  in undertaking joint ventures and partnerships to be able to make big investments in growth  potential areas locally or internationally
4. Help Malawians  to as much as possible penetrate the SADC, COMESA, AFRICA, EUROPE, USA and ASIA where they can either trade,  learn skills, do professional work etc so that Malawi can have a critical mass of wealthy people, economic and  policy influencers too.
5. Expose Malawians to motivational speakers
6. Help half of Malawians to learn above average ICT skills, to own and use them 
7.  

The nation can better develop  and be lead by empowered citizens. When citizens are not empowered and majority live in abject poverty yet they vote and influence elections, politicians will always manipulate them to enrich themselves by always using the donkey and carrot tactics as this case in Malawi.