The Malawi government is seeking private-sector companies to operate water, air and railway transport services in the Southern African country.
In the water transport sector, the government is seeking a concessionaire to operate the State-owned Malawi Lake Services (MLS), the biggest firm that manages water transport services on Lake Malawi.
President Bingu wa Mutharika's government wants a new private partner in MLS because it has severed a 20-year-old concession with Glens Waterways, which has only managed MLS for six years, owing to "unsatisfactory performance".
"Over the six-year period, a number of challenges were experienced, both on the part of the government of Malawi and on the part of the operator. The government of Malawi and Glens Waterways have reached a mutual agreement to hand over the concession.
"We are now working to identify a replacement for the concessionaire. The government's marine department is taking charge of MLS while we wait for the identification of the new operator," says Malawi Privatisation Commission information, education and communication officer Chimwemwe Matonga.
The Malawi government is seeking investors into the air transport sector, with Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe saying that government has intensified its efforts to identify a strategic partner for the national flag carrier, Air Malawi.
"We feel that the airline could be re-established [in such a way that] government retains a 51% shareholding and a strategic investor holds the remaining 49%. Government will, thus, have a majority on the board of the airline. In pursuing this deal, we are looking at what other countries, such as Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Ghana, have done," says Gondwe.
Gondwe says the Malawi government feels introducing a strategic partner in Air Malawi will help turn-around the fortunes of the airline, which is failing to deliver reliable services and has often failed to procure basic operational materials such as fuel without government's support.
The Malawi government previously tried to privatise Air Malawi and invited local and foreign companies to bidders to acquire a controlling shareholding in the firm.
The privatisation process, however, flopped because prospective bidders found the airline unviable, which forced the government to continue investing in the airline while pursuing the sale process in passive mode.
"We now feel it is time to re-establish the airline as one that provides the public with an efficient and reliable service throughout the country and one that is not a burden on public finances," says Gondwe.
In the railway sector, Gondwe says government is seeking partners in the operation and rehabilitation of the country's rail network.
He says government is engaged in negotiations with the World Bank and the European Union (EU) to finance the rehabilitation of some stretches of the rail network.
Gondwe declines to reveal the actual cost of the rehabilitation excercise, which is estimated to cost several millions of dollars.
"What I can say from our discussions with the World Bank and the EU is that the prospects that we will be funded are so good that the work to bring rail transport in Malawi to normal operational standards can start next year," says Gondwe.
The Malawi government is also carrying out a major road rehabilitation programme.
Notable projects that are under way include the construction of the Thyolo–Makwasa–Muona–Makhanga road, at an estimated cost of $46,5-million, and the $40-million rehabilitation of the Bangula–Nsanje–Marka, road in the southern region.
The Malawi government is also carrying out the $59-million construction of the Zomba-Jali-Phalombe road in the southern region and the construction of the Karonga-Chitipa road in the northern region at a cost of $45-million.
The rehabilitation and upgrading of the Masauko Chipembere highway, in Blantyre, has also started, with funding from the Japanese government to the tune of $15-million.
The major road projects that Malawi's Ministry of Transport and Public Works has lined up this year and are expected to cost millions of dollars include the construction of the Mzimba–Kafukule–Njakwa and the Jenda–Edingeni–Ewuthini–Rumphi roads in the northern region, and the Lumbazi–Dowa–Chezi and Lilongwe Old Airport–Kasiya–Santhe roads, in the central region.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Expired beverages flood market in Malawi
Consumer body in Malawi called Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) has been asked to investigate the flooding of expired beverages on the country’s market which poses a health hazard to consumers.
The situation is getting worse in rural areas where few people are aware of their consumer rights and the hazards of taking expired beverages.
It has been noted that some desperate traders keep stocking expired beverages particularly those imported into the country from foreign factories, bottled in plastic materials.
It is observed that once the beverages reach expiry dates, desperate traders simply remove or change the inscriptions on the caps and replace them with new dates just to deceive consumers that the contents are fresh and healthy.
Cama Executive Officer Andrew Ussi said to journalists the issue of expired products has reached worsening levels and the body is investigating several other matters related to the same.
He however said his body is yet to receive a formal complain on the flooding of expired beverages.
“As Cama, we are touched with the situation particularly to a rural consumer whose knowledge on consumer rights is not too good, we are engaged in sensitization programmes to step up their knowledge,” he said.
He also asked journalists to help Cama with awareness on the masses on the need to alarm the body if they spot any trader selling expired beverages or any other products.
Cama is also engaged in a fight against smoking which the body says is increasing Tuberculosis and cancer cases in the country in particular and the world inn general.
The body is campaigning for anti Public smoking law, which would bar smokers from taking their cigars in public. It is believed that when a man smokes in public, all the other people exposed to the smoke are also smoking. This type of smoking is called passive smoking and is believed to have increased cases of cancer and TB among married couples where one members smokes in the presence of the other who later develops the diseases as a result of nicotine.
The situation is getting worse in rural areas where few people are aware of their consumer rights and the hazards of taking expired beverages.
It has been noted that some desperate traders keep stocking expired beverages particularly those imported into the country from foreign factories, bottled in plastic materials.
It is observed that once the beverages reach expiry dates, desperate traders simply remove or change the inscriptions on the caps and replace them with new dates just to deceive consumers that the contents are fresh and healthy.
Cama Executive Officer Andrew Ussi said to journalists the issue of expired products has reached worsening levels and the body is investigating several other matters related to the same.
He however said his body is yet to receive a formal complain on the flooding of expired beverages.
“As Cama, we are touched with the situation particularly to a rural consumer whose knowledge on consumer rights is not too good, we are engaged in sensitization programmes to step up their knowledge,” he said.
He also asked journalists to help Cama with awareness on the masses on the need to alarm the body if they spot any trader selling expired beverages or any other products.
Cama is also engaged in a fight against smoking which the body says is increasing Tuberculosis and cancer cases in the country in particular and the world inn general.
The body is campaigning for anti Public smoking law, which would bar smokers from taking their cigars in public. It is believed that when a man smokes in public, all the other people exposed to the smoke are also smoking. This type of smoking is called passive smoking and is believed to have increased cases of cancer and TB among married couples where one members smokes in the presence of the other who later develops the diseases as a result of nicotine.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association visits Malawi
A three-man delegation from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), a UK-based organisation which works to support good govervance, democracy and human rights, is in the country on a week long visit.
According to the delegation leader Ian Davison here Thursday, the CPA visit will strengthen ties between Malawi and Britain.
"We would like to discuss with local people on a number of issues, including various developmental projects implemented by government and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Plan Malawi if their work benefited Malawians," he said.
While in the country, the delegation is expected to meet government officials, non-governmental organisations and will also visit election registration centres in parts of the Malawi capital Lilongwe to see how the exercise for the 2009 general elections was being conducted.
According to the delegation leader Ian Davison here Thursday, the CPA visit will strengthen ties between Malawi and Britain.
"We would like to discuss with local people on a number of issues, including various developmental projects implemented by government and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Plan Malawi if their work benefited Malawians," he said.
While in the country, the delegation is expected to meet government officials, non-governmental organisations and will also visit election registration centres in parts of the Malawi capital Lilongwe to see how the exercise for the 2009 general elections was being conducted.
The Salvation Army Empowers the Women of Malawi
Malawi ranks among the six poorest countries in the world and The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda has scaled up its Goat Bank Programme for rural women in Malawi.
Poverty is on the increase and, to provide basic needs for their families, the majority of women prostitute. This Programme has changed lives and improved the economic status of women and their children.
Mature female goats were provided to 780 women. Goats are among key sources of household income and can be sold or exchanged for other materials. Women residing in rural communities are now able to meet their families’ basic needs such as schooling, food, medical treatment and other social needs. The cost of one goat is US$35.
The benefits of this project are five-fold. Women:
raise their income through goats.
support their families through goats.
acquire knowledge and skills on goat rearing and management skills.
learn group dynamics and how to work as a team.
establish support groups as a result of the project.
In many communities in Malawi Salvation Army officers provided additional skills and knowledge to beneficiaries and organized experience-sharing meetings. Here, those who benefited from similar projects shared their experiences and challenges with the new beneficiaries.
Worldwide, financial support raised by The Salvation Army assists programs in 115 countries. Through disaster services, education and healthcare, development projects such as micro-credit loans, goat-rearing programs and clean water supplies, the Army aims to meet physical, emotional and spiritual needs of marginalized individuals.
In recent years, The Salvation Army World Missions office has responded to natural and man-made disasters in dozens of countries around the world – from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to the 2005 Pakistan earthquake as well as disasters including the floods in Bangladesh and the earthquake in Peru.
The Army also engages in day-to-day outreach in some of the poorest areas around the globe. Just as domestic Salvation Army programs are developed with the specific needs of the community in mind, the Army’s international work is generated at the local level in close partnership with those who utilize the services.
Hofstra professor finds a far-away real estate market in crisis
The United State has its mortgage crisis, but real estate finance professor Robert Campbell has just come back from a place where the subprime collapse could never happen but where there's another type of real estate crisis.
It's the Republic of Malawi.
In this country of about 12 million in southeastern Africa, Campbell found out that the government owns all the land and leases it to people, sometimes for a nominal or no fee.
"It's a very informal, legal system, in which a family has the right to farm land in perpetuity, from generation to generation," said Campbell, who teaches at Hofstra University and vacationed in Malawi. The government of course can take away leases if a family doesn't pay, but Campbell says that doesn't really happen.
With all land considered government property, that means mortgages aren't really given out in Malawi - after all, mortgages are secured by land and properties. So money to build homes are scraped together from family and friends, he said, and while long-term leases in the United States are sometimes considered collateral by lenders in the United States, Malawi's government does not want leases used that way.
"The government, while it's willing for land to change hands from one citizen to another, is not willing for the land to be inherited by some big bank that loaned a guy money," the professor said. "If the guy doesn't pay, the bank cannot take over the lease. The people, even though they occupy land and may have occupied it for generations, cannot offer to the bank suitable security. So as a result, all they could do is borrow an amount that they can actually pay back from their income - and that over a short period of time. So there's no way to invest capital into the real estate market in Malawi."
But like a lot of other African countries, Malawi has been facing an AIDS crisis that has killed off many parents, making orphans of their children. "It is estimated that between 1990 and 2003, the number of children under 18 who were living without one or both parents in Malawi grew from about 800,000 to 1.2 million," said a 2004 health and demographic report conducted by Malawi’s government.
It's a double tragedy because of the way Malawai's real estate system works.
"These children are put into orphanages," Campbell said, "and they lose their land rights. They lose the land that's been in their families for generations. It reverts to the government, and the government gives it to somebody else who's not dead who comes in and farms it. Sometimes that will be another family member.
"This is an agricultural subsistence economy. Your ability to live a comfortable and happy life depends on access to that land so you can farm it. The kids are losing the land because their parents were sick, and there's no legal system to protect them, to protect their interests."
It's the Republic of Malawi.
In this country of about 12 million in southeastern Africa, Campbell found out that the government owns all the land and leases it to people, sometimes for a nominal or no fee.
"It's a very informal, legal system, in which a family has the right to farm land in perpetuity, from generation to generation," said Campbell, who teaches at Hofstra University and vacationed in Malawi. The government of course can take away leases if a family doesn't pay, but Campbell says that doesn't really happen.
With all land considered government property, that means mortgages aren't really given out in Malawi - after all, mortgages are secured by land and properties. So money to build homes are scraped together from family and friends, he said, and while long-term leases in the United States are sometimes considered collateral by lenders in the United States, Malawi's government does not want leases used that way.
"The government, while it's willing for land to change hands from one citizen to another, is not willing for the land to be inherited by some big bank that loaned a guy money," the professor said. "If the guy doesn't pay, the bank cannot take over the lease. The people, even though they occupy land and may have occupied it for generations, cannot offer to the bank suitable security. So as a result, all they could do is borrow an amount that they can actually pay back from their income - and that over a short period of time. So there's no way to invest capital into the real estate market in Malawi."
But like a lot of other African countries, Malawi has been facing an AIDS crisis that has killed off many parents, making orphans of their children. "It is estimated that between 1990 and 2003, the number of children under 18 who were living without one or both parents in Malawi grew from about 800,000 to 1.2 million," said a 2004 health and demographic report conducted by Malawi’s government.
It's a double tragedy because of the way Malawai's real estate system works.
"These children are put into orphanages," Campbell said, "and they lose their land rights. They lose the land that's been in their families for generations. It reverts to the government, and the government gives it to somebody else who's not dead who comes in and farms it. Sometimes that will be another family member.
"This is an agricultural subsistence economy. Your ability to live a comfortable and happy life depends on access to that land so you can farm it. The kids are losing the land because their parents were sick, and there's no legal system to protect them, to protect their interests."
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