Malawi

Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the

independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three decades of one -
party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA, the country held
multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections in 1994, under a
provisional constitution that came into full effect the following year.
Bakili MULUZI became the first freely elected president of Malawi
when he won the presidency in 1994; he won re-election in 1999.
President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA, elected in 2004 after a failed
attempt by the previous president to amend the constitution to permit
another term, struggled to assert his authority against his predecessor
and subsequently started his own party, the Democratic Progressive
Party in 2005. MUTHARIKA was reelected to a second term in 2009.
He oversaw some economic improvement in his first term, but was
accused of economic mismanagement and poor governance in his
second term. He died abruptly in 2012 and was succeeded by vice
president, Joyce BANDA, who had earlier started her own party, the
People's Party. MUTHARIKA's brother, Peter MUTHARIKA, defeated
BANDA in the 2014 election. Population growth, increasing pressure
on agricultural lands, corruption, and the scourge of HIV/AIDS pose
major problems for Malawi

History
Malawi was once called Maravi, or ‘reflected light’ – perhaps a reference to
sunlight glittering on Lake Malawi. Archaeological excavations have revealed
evidence of early settlements around Lake Malawi, dating back to the late Stone
and Iron Ages.

The area is mentioned in early Arab writings and in Portuguese writings of the
17th and 18th centuries. The pre-colonial Maravi Empire was a loosely
organised society covering an expanse of territory well beyond present-day
Malawi and encompassed first the Chewa and later the Tumbuka ethnic groups.
The Yao from the north and the Ngoni made successful invasions during the
19th century. The Yao became involved in the commercial slave trade, acting as
agents for the coastal Arabs. David Livingstone visited Lake Malawi (then
called Lake Nyasa) in 1859 and was followed in succeeding decades by British
missionaries, traders and planters. This was an unsettled period, with
widespread slave raiding.

In 1891, Britain declared the country the British Protectorate of Nyasaland. In

1953 the UK federated Nyasaland with Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now
Malawi
Zambia and Zimbabwe). The Federation was vigorously opposed and, in 1958,
Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda returned home from Ghana, at the invitation of the
Nyasaland African Congress, to lead the fight against it. The government
declared a state of emergency in 1959 and arrested Banda and other members of
Congress. Following his release in 1960, a series of constitutional conferences
was held, as were elections. Internal self-government was achieved in 1963, the
Federation was dissolved and Malawi attained independence and joined the
Commonwealth on 6 July 1964, with Banda as Prime Minister.

In 1966 Malawi became a republic, with Banda as President. A new constitution

gave the President, who was also commander- in-chief of the armed forces,
widespread powers. He held a number of ministerial portfolios, including
External Affairs, Agriculture, Justice and Works. Malawi became a one-party
state, with Malawi Congress Party (MCP) as the sole party.

The following decade saw widespread political unrest, much of it arising from
splits and rivalries. Pressure for democratic reform intensified at the end of the
1980s. The one-party government held out for a period: thousands of arrests
were made in the first half of 1992, among those arrested was trade union leader
and multiparty democracy campaigner Chakufwa Chihana. Strikes, student
demonstrations and political riots were suppressed by police, in the course of
which at least 38 people died.

Western donors supported the campaign for multiparty democracy by

suspending non-humanitarian aid to Malawi in May 1992. The reformers joined
forces in a Public Affairs Committee (PAC) – an umbrella body of religious and
political groups calling for change. The Alliance for Democracy (AFORD),
chaired by Chihana, and the United Democratic Front (UDF), chaired by Bakili
Muluzi, were formed in September 1992 and joined the PAC. The government
then established the President’s Committee for Dialogue and agreed to hold an
internationally supervised national referendum on the one-party system.

Over 78 per cent of the adult population voted in the referendum on 14 June
1993, and 63 per cent supported a multiparty system. The constitution was
accordingly amended. Banda also announced an amnesty for all Malawians
imprisoned or exiled for political activities. Laws passed by the National
Assembly in November 1993 committed Malawi to human rights including
freedom of expression. The Constitution (Amendment) Act introduced a bill of
rights, the title of life President (which had been assumed by Banda in 1971)
was dropped from the constitution and a number of restrictive laws were
repealed

Early history
Malawi
The paleontological record of human cultural artifacts in Malawi dates back
more than 50,000 years, although known fossil remains of early Homo
sapiens belong to the period between 8000 and 2000 BCE. These prehistoric
forebears have affinities to the San people of southern Africa and were probably
ancestral to the Twa and Fulani, whom Bantu-speaking peoples claimed to have
found when they invaded the Malawi region between the 1st and 4th
centuries CE. From then to about 1200 CE, Bantu settlement patterns spread, as
did ironworking and the slash-and-burn method of cultivation. The identity of
these early Bantu-speaking inhabitants is uncertain. According to oral tradition,
names such as Kalimanjira, Katanga, and Zimba are associated with them.
With the arrival of another wave of Bantu-speaking peoples between the 13th
and 15th centuries CE, the recorded history of the Malawi region began. These
peoples migrated into the region from the north, and they interacted with
and assimilated the earlier pre-Bantu and Bantu inhabitants. The descendants of
these peoples maintained a rich oral history, and, from 1500, written records
were kept in Portuguese and English.
Among the notable accomplishments of the last group of Bantu immigrants was
the creation of political states, or the introduction of centralized systems of
government. They established the Maravi Confederacy about 1480. During the
16th century the confederacy encompassed the greater part of what is now
central and southern Malawi, and, at the height of its influence, in the 17th
century, its system of government affected peoples in the adjacent areas of
present-day Zambia and Mozambique. North of the Maravi territory,
the Ngonde founded a kingdom about 1600. In the 18th century a group of
immigrants from the eastern side of Lake Malawi created the Chikulamayembe
state to the south of the Ngonde.

The precolonial period witnessed other important developments. In the 18th and
19th centuries, better and more productive agricultural practices were adopted.
In some parts of the Malawi region, shifting cultivation of indigenous varieties
of millet and sorghum began to give way to more intensive cultivation of crops
with a higher carbohydrate content, such as corn (maize), cassava (manioc), and
rice.
The independent growth of indigenous governments and improved economic
systems was severely disturbed by the development of the slave trade in the late
18th century and by the arrival of foreign intruders in the late 19th century. The
slave trade in Malawi increased dramatically between 1790 and 1860 because of
the growing demand for slaves on Africa’s east coast.
Swahili-speaking people from the east coast and the Ngoni and Yao peoples
entered the Malawi region between 1830 and 1860 as traders or as armed
refugees fleeing the Zulu states to the south. All of them eventually created
Malawi
spheres of influence within which they became the dominant ruling class. The
Swahili speakers and the Yao also played a major role in the slave trade.
Islam spread into Malawi from the east coast. It was first introduced
at Nkhotakota by the ruling Swahili-speaking slave traders, the Jumbe, in the
1860s. Traders returning from the coast in the 1870s and ’80s brought Islam to
the Yao of the Shire Highlands. Christianity was introduced in the 1860s
by David Livingstone and by other Scottish missionaries who came to Malawi
after Livingstone’s death in 1873. Missionaries of the Dutch Reformed
Church of South Africa and the White Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church
arrived between 1880 and 1910.
Christianity owed its success to the protection given to the missionaries by the
colonial government, which the British established after occupying the Malawi
region in the 1880s and ’90s. British colonial authority was welcomed by the
missionaries and some African societies but was strongly resisted by the
Yao, Chewa, and others.

Colonial rule
In 1891 the British established the Nyasaland Districts Protectorate, which was
called the British Central Africa Protectorate from 1893 and Nyasaland from
1907. Under the colonial regime, roads and railways were built, and the
cultivation of cash crops by European settlers was introduced. On the other
hand, the colonial administration did little to enhance the welfare of the African
majority, because of commitment to the interests of European settlers. It failed
to develop African agriculture, and many able-bodied men migrated to
neighbouring countries to seek employment. Furthermore, between 1951 and
1953 the colonial government decided to join the colonies of Southern and
Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland, against bitter opposition from their African inhabitants.

These negative features of colonial rule prompted the rise of a nationalist

movement. From its humble beginnings during the period between the World
Wars, African nationalism gathered momentum in the early 1950s. Of
special impetus was the imposition of the federation, which nationalists feared
as an extension of colonial power. The full force of nationalism as an instrument
of change became evident after 1958 under the leadership of Hastings Kamuzu
Banda, who had returned to the country that year after having been abroad to
study and practice medicine. The federation was dissolved in 1963, and Malawi
Malawi
became independent as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations on July 6,
1964.

Postindependence Malawi

The Banda regime, 1963–94

Soon after independence, a serious dispute arose between Banda, the prime
minister, and most of his cabinet ministers. In September 1964 three ministers
were dismissed and three others resigned in protest. Henry Chipembere, one of
these ministers, escaped from house arrest and defied attempts at recapture,
becoming the focus for antigovernment opinion until his death in 1975. On July
6, 1966, Malawi became a republic, and Banda was elected president; in 1971
he was made president for life.
Malawi’s 1966 constitution established a one-party state under the Malawi
Congress Party (MCP), which in turn was controlled by Banda, who
consistently and ruthlessly suppressed any opposition. From independence the
MCP government became a conservative, pro-Western regime, supported by a
bicameral National Assembly whose members were elected within the single-
party system.
Banda’s government improved the transport and communication systems,
especially the road and railway networks. There was also much emphasis on
cash crop production and food security; the estate sector (which produced
tobacco, tea, and sugar) met expectations, but smallholder production was not as
successful, mainly because of the low prices offered by the Agricultural
Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC), the state organization
that had the monopoly on marketing smallholder produce. In addition, the cost
of fertilizer, all of which was imported and also dominated by ADMARC,
rendered smallholder agriculture expensive.
For more than 10 years, Malawi was able to prosper economically before being
felled by a confluence of external factors. In 1980, in an effort to improve the
country’s economic situation and broaden regional ties, Malawi joined
the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (later the Southern
African Development Community), a union of black majority-ruled countries
near minority-ruled South Africa that wished to reduce their dependence on that
country. Banda refused to sever formal diplomatic ties with
the apartheid regime in South Africa, however—a decision that was not popular
with the other leaders in the region.
On March 8, 1992, a pastoral letter written by Malawian Catholic bishops
expressing concern at—among other things—the poor state of human rights,
poverty, and their effects on family life was read in churches throughout
Malawi. This act served to encourage underground opposition groups that had
long waited for an opportunity to mount an open and vigorous campaign for
Malawi
multiparty democracy; exile groups also intensified their demands for political
reform. Additional pressure was applied by international donors, who withheld
financial aid. By the end of 1992, two internally based opposition parties, the
Alliance for Democracy and the United Democratic Front (UDF), had emerged,
and Banda agreed to hold a national referendum to determine the need for
reform. Advocates for change won an overwhelming victory, and in May 1994
the first free elections in more than 30 years took place. Banda was defeated
by Bakili Muluzi of the UDF by a substantial margin, and the UDF won a
majority of seats in the National Assembly. Although no longer active, Banda
remained head of the MCP until his death in November 1997.

Malawi since 1994

A new constitution, officially promulgated in 1995, provided the structure for

transforming Malawi into a democratic society. Muluzi’s first term in office
brought the country greater democracy and freedoms of speech, assembly, and
association—a stark contrast to life under Banda’s regime. Muluzi’s
administration also promised to root out government corruption and reduce
poverty and food shortages in the country, although this campaign met with
limited success. Muluzi pursued good relations with a number
of Arab countries, toward most of which Banda had been particularly cool; he
also sought to play a more active role in African affairs than his predecessor.
Muluzi was reelected in 1999, but his opponent, Gwandaguluwe Chakuamba,
challenged the results. The aftermath of the disputed election included
demonstrations, violence, and looting. During Muluzi’s second term, he drew
domestic and international criticism for some of his actions, which were viewed
as increasingly autocratic.
Malawi’s international standing was bolstered in 2000, when the country’s
small air force responded quickly to the flooding crisis in the neighbouring
country of Mozambique, rescuing upward of 1,000 people. However, the
country was not as quick to respond to a severe food shortage at home, first
noted in the latter half of 2001. By February 2002 a famine had been declared,
and the government was scurrying to find enough food for its citizens.
Unfortunately, much international aid was slow to arrive in the country—or was
withheld entirely—because of the belief that government mismanagement and
corruption contributed to the food shortage. In particular, some government
officials were accused of selling grain from the country’s reserves at a profit to
themselves prior to the onset of the famine.
Muluzi was limited to two terms as president, despite his efforts to amend the
constitution to allow further terms. In 2004 his handpicked successor, Bingu wa
Mutharika of the UDF, was declared the winner of an election tainted by
Malawi
irregularity and criticized as unfair. Mutharika’s administration quickly set out
to improve government operations by eliminating corruption and streamlining
spending. To that end, Mutharika dramatically reduced the number of
ministerial positions in the cabinet and initiated an investigation of several
prominent UDF party officials accused of corruption, leading to several arrests.
His actions impressed international donors, who resumed the flow of foreign aid
previously withheld in protest of the financial mismanagement and corruption
of Muluzi’s administration.
By that time the country had been negatively affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis
and the lack of such requisites as economically viable resources, an accessible
and well-utilized educational system, and an adequate infrastructure—issues
that continued to hamper economic and social progress. However, Mutharika’s
administration showed potential for leading Malawi on a path of meaningful
political reform, which in turn promised to further attract much-needed foreign
aid.
As his term progressed, Mutharika faced a number of political challenges,
including conflicts with his predecessor and the UDF. In February 2005
Mutharika left the UDF, of which Muluzi was chairman, and announced shortly
thereafter his intention to form a new party, the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP). In June the UDF brought an impeachment motion against
Mutharika before the National Assembly, which in October voted to begin
proceedings against him; although appeals to Mutharika’s opponents by donor
countries and neighbouring leaders asking that they reconsider were largely
unsuccessful, the motion was finally withdrawn in early 2006. In July of that
year, Muluzi was arrested on charges of corruption, although the charges were
soon dropped because of lack of evidence. He was again arrested in mid-2008,
in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow Mutharika, and again in
February 2009, when he was accused of embezzling millions of dollars’ worth
of donor funding. Muluzi denied the charges and claimed they were part of a
political conspiracy against him as well as an attempt to keep him from standing
in the upcoming presidential election.
Muluzi’s desire to run for president was hindered by another factor: whether the
two terms he had previously served made him ineligible for a third. The Malawi
Electoral Commission felt they did and barred him from standing in the
election, but Muluzi appealed, arguing that the potential third term would be
nonconsecutive with his previous terms and therefore would not violate the two-
term limit stipulated in the constitution. His appeal was denied by a Malawian
court just days before the election, and he threw his support behind the primary
opposition candidate John Tembo of the MCP.
In the presidential and parliamentary elections held on May 19, 2009,
Mutharika soundly defeated the other candidates, but many people, including
Tembo, alleged that voting irregularities were widespread. International
Malawi
monitors stated that Mutharika had an unfair advantage leading up to the
election, noting that the state-controlled media did not provide fair and balanced
coverage of all candidates. Still, it was clear that Mutharika had the support of
much of the population, who were satisfied with the great strides that the
country had made under his administration. Economic growth had been steady,
the agricultural sector had improved, and the food insecurity had been reduced.

The progress that Malawi experienced under Mutharika began to erode during
his second term as his rule grew increasingly autocratic and the country faced
new economic challenges. Some officials who expressed disagreement with
Mutharika were dismissed from high-ranking positions, including Vice
Pres. Joyce Banda, who was expelled from Mutharika’s DPP in December
2010, although she was able to retain her position as vice president of the
country. The dismissals came amid rumours that Mutharika was grooming his
brother, Peter, to succeed him as the DPP presidential candidate in elections
scheduled for 2014.
Nationwide protests fueled by discontent with the country’s political and
economic situation were held on July 20, 2011, which the army dealt with
harshly: 19 demonstrators were killed, and hundreds more were wounded.
International donors grew dissatisfied with the way that Mutharika was handling
the country’s economic problems and were concerned about the
administration’s apparent dwindling respect for upholding human rights. As a
result, the country lost millions of dollars of much-needed aid, including a
considerable amount from Great Britain after the two countries engaged in a
high-profile diplomatic spat. Against the backdrop of simmering political
discontent, rising food prices, fuel shortages, and a power crisis, news that
Mutharika had suffered a heart attack on April 5, 2012—and the subsequent
reports of his death—left the country in a state of uncertainty. Official
confirmation of Mutharika’s death was delayed, leading to well-founded
concerns of a succession struggle between Banda, who had a
constitutionally mandated right to take over as president, and members of
Mutharika’s clique, who wanted to block her from serving in the position. The
government did not officially confirm Mutharika’s death until April 7, and, with
strong domestic and international support to counter Mutharika’s small circle of
key supporters, Banda was sworn in as acting president that same day.
Banda moved quickly to counter the policies of Mutharika’s administration.
During her first few months in office, she restored diplomatic relations with
Great Britain and normalized relations with donors. Banda also focused on
restoring democratic practices, repairing the economy, and eliminating
government corruption. One of her first economic decisions as president was to
devalue the country’s currency, an act that was backed by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and donors but criticized at home and followed by a
jump in the inflation rate. Her policies were somewhat effective, as donors
Malawi
resumed a flow of funding to Malawi, the inflation rate eventually began to fall,
and the country’s economic growth rate more than doubled during her first two
years as president. Still, much of the country remained at or below the poverty
level.
Malawi’s battle with corruption came to the fore in 2013, after Paul Mphwiyo,
the Ministry of Finance official heading up efforts to investigate and eliminate
government corruption, was the target of an assassination attempt in September.
The subsequent investigation into the attack quickly exposed the “cash-gate”
scandal, a massive fraud and corruption operation that allegedly involved
senior-level government officials, including some cabinet ministers in Banda’s
administration. On October 10 Banda dissolved her entire cabinet to ensure that
the officials under suspicion did not interfere with the investigation. Trials for
those accused in the scandal began in January 2014. The next month, an
independent audit report presented evidence that more than $30 million had
been stolen from the government during a six-month period in 2013.
The monetary total was expected to increase as the investigations continued,
with estimates ranging from $100 million to $250 million.
The cash-gate scandal was one of the issues that figured prominently in
campaigns for the May 2014 presidential, parliamentary, and local government
elections, with Banda citing it as evidence that she was tackling corruption
while opposition candidates pointed out that it happened under her watch; some
even claimed that she was complicit in the scandal and had benefited from the
misappropriated funds. By the time the elections were held on May 20, Banda
appeared to be in a tight race with 3 of the other 11 presidential candidates,
including Peter Mutharika, DDP leader and brother of the former president.
Voting did not go smoothly, and polls were kept open a second and third day in
areas that had experienced significant problems or delays. Additional problems
surfaced, with Banda and some opposition parties complaining of voting
irregularities and alleging that vote rigging had occurred, and there were delays
with the tallying of the votes. Still, the consensus of international observers was
that the elections, despite some problems, were generally credible.
On May 24 Banda proclaimed that she was annulling the elections and ordering
them to be repeated in 90 days; she also said she would not be a candidate in the
new presidential election. However, her proclamation was quickly overturned
by the country’s High Court, which said that Banda did not have the power to
annul the elections, the elections were still valid, and vote counting should
continue. Soon after that, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), which had
been announcing partial results as they were tallied, stopped releasing results
and indicated the need to conduct a recount after discovering some
voting anomalies. Many legal motions were filed in conjunction with the
election and the vote-tallying process, including one by Mutharika’s DPP party,
which sought and received an injunction to prevent a full recount from
occurring. The MEC petitioned the High Court for a waiver to extend the
Malawi
deadline for releasing the election results—eight days from the closing of the
polls—in order to have time to complete a partial recount of votes from
problematic areas. On May 30 the High Court denied the request and ordered
the MEC to announce the results. Mutharika was declared the winner, with 36.4
percent of the vote; he was followed by Lazarus Chakwera, who obtained 27.8
percent, and Banda, who came in third with 20.2 percent. Banda conceded and
Mutharika was sworn in as president on May 31, 2014.

Geography
Location:
Southern Africa, east of Zambia, west and north of
Mozambique
Geographic Coordinates
13.2543° S, 34.3015° E
Area
total: 118,484 sq km
land: 94,080 sq km
water: 24,404 sq km
Land boundaries
Total: 2,857 km
Border countries (3): Mozambique 1498 km, Tanzania 512 km,
Zambia 847 km
Climate
sub-tropical; rainy season (November to May); dry season
(May to November)
Terrain
narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded hills,
some mountains
Elevation
mean elevation: 779 m
lowest point: junction of the Shire River and international
boundary with Mozambique 37 m
highest point: Sapitwa (Mount Mlanje) 3,002 m
Natural Resources
Limestone, arable land, hydropower, unexploited deposits of
uranium, coal, and bauxite
Malawi

Economy
Overview
Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The
country’s economic performance has historically been constrained by
policy inconsistency, macroeconomic instability, poor infrastructure,
rampant corruption, high population growth, and poor health and
education outcomes that limit labor productivity. The economy is
predominately agricultural with about 80% of the population living in
rural areas. Agriculture accounts for about one-third of GDP and 80%
of export revenues. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to
short-term growth as tobacco accounts for more than half of exports,
although Malawi is looking to diversify away from tobacco to other
cash crops.

The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance

from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. Donors
halted direct budget support from 2013 to 2016 because of concerns
about corruption and fiscal carelessness, but the World Bank resumed
budget support in May 2017. In 2006, Malawi was appro ved for relief
under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program but recent
increases in domestic borrowing mean that debt servicing in 2016
exceeded the levels prior to HIPC debt relief.

Heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture, with corn being the staple

crop, Malawi’s economy was hit hard by the El Nino -driven drought in
2015 and 2016, and now faces threat from the fall armyworm. The
drought also slowed economic activity, led to two consecutive years of
declining economic growth, and contributed to high inflation rates.
Depressed food prices over 2017 led to a significant drop in inflation
(from an average of 21.7% in 2016 to 12.3% in 2017), with a similar
drop in interest rates.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$22.42 billion (2017 est.)
$21.56 billion (2016 est.)
$21.08 billion (2015 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

Malawi
$6.24 billion (2017 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2017 est.)
2.3% (2016 est.)
3% (2015 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$1,200 (2017 est.)
$1,200 (2016 est.)
$1,200 (2015 est.)

Gross national saving:

3.9% of GDP (2017 est.)
-2.8% of GDP (2016 est.)
2.8% of GDP (2015 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use:

household consumption: 84.3% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 16.3% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 15.3% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 27.9% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -43.8% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin:

agriculture: 28.6% (2017 est.)
industry: 15.4% (2017 est.)
services: 56% (2017 est.)

Agriculture - products:
tobacco, sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava
(manioc, tapioca), sorghum, pulses, cotton, groundnuts, macadamia
nuts, coffee; cattle, goats
Industries:
tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods
Industrial production growth rate:
1.2% (2017 est.)
Labor force:
7 million (2013 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 76.9%
industry: 4.1%
Malawi
services: 19% (2013 est.)
Unemployment rate:
20.4% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 187
Population below poverty line:
50.7% (2010 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 37.5% (2010 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
46.1(2010)
39 (2004)
Budget
expenditures: 1.567 billion (2017 est.)
Taxes and other revenues:
21.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):
-3.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Public debt:
59.2% of GDP (2017 est.)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
12.2% (2017 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
16% (31 December 2017 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
38.1% (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of narrow money:
$632.4 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of broad money:
$632.4 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of domestic credit:
$1.161 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares
$18.97 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Current account balance:
-$591 million (2017 est.)
Exports
$1.42 billion (2017 est.)
Malawi
Exports - partners:
Zimbabwe 13.1%, Mozambique 11.8%, Belgium 10.7%, South Africa
6.3%, Netherlands 5%, UK 4.7%, Germany 4.3%, US 4.2% (2017)
Exports - commodities:
tobacco (55%), dried legumes (8.8%), sugar (6.7%), tea (5.7%), cotton
(2%), peanuts, coffee, soy (2015 est.)
Imports:
$2.312 billion (2017 est.)

Imports - commodities:
food, petroleum products, semi-manufactures, consumer goods,
transportation equipment
Imports - partners:
South Africa 20.7%, China 14.2%, India 11.6%, UAE 7%, Netherlands
4.4% (2017)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$780.2 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Debt - external:
$2.102 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$142.5 million (2015 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
NA
Exchange rates:
Malawian kwachas (MWK) per US dollar -
731.69 (2017 est.)

Disputes- International
Dispute with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Malawi (Lake
Nyasa) and the meandering Songwe River; Malawi contends that the
entire lake up to the Tanzanian shoreline is its territory, while
Tanzania claims the border is in the center of the lake; the conflict was
reignited in 2012 when Malawi awarded a license to a British company
for oil exploration in the lake.
Refugees and internally displaced persons
refugees (country of origin): 26,641 (Democratic Republic of the
Congo) (refugees and asylum seekers), 8,752 (Burundi) (refugees and
asylum seekers), 6,606 (Rwanda) (refugees and asylum seekers)
(2019)
 Malawi

Military and Security

Military expenditures:
0.85% of GDP (2018)
0.76% of GDP (2017)
0.64% of GDP (2016)
0.63% of GDP (2015)
0.82% of GDP (2014)
Military branches:
Malawi Defense Force (MDF): Army (includes Air Wing, Marine
Unit); note - a 2017 amendment to Malawi’s Defense Force Act
established a separate Army, Air Force, and Maritime Force within the
MDF, but these services have yet to develop independent budgets,
chains of command, and training institutions (2019)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; high school equivalent
required for enlisted recruits and college equivalent for officer
recruits; initial engagement is 7 years for enlisted personnel and 10
years for officers (2014

 Telephones - fixed lines:

total subscriptions: 17,337

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (2017 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

total subscriptions: 7,772,503

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 40 (2017 est.)

Telephone system:
 Malawi
general assessment: rudimentary; 2 fixed-line and 3 mobile-cellular
operators govern the market; some mobile services to rural areas; in a
resolution to discourage crime the regulatory has imposed SIM card
registration since 2018; 50 licensed ISPs; DSL services are available;
LTE services are available (2018)

domestic: limited fixed-line subscribership less than 1 per 100

households; mobile-cellular services are expanding but network
coverage is limited and is based around the main urban areas; mobile -
cellular subscribership approaching 40 per 100 households (2018)

international: country code - 265; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1

Indian Ocean, 1 Atlantic Ocean); recent access to international
submarine fiber cable via neighboring countries

Broadcast media:

radio is the main broadcast medium; privately owned Zodiak radio has
the widest national broadcasting reach, followed by state -run radio;
numerous private and community radio stations broadcast in cities and
towns around the country; the largest TV network is government -
owned, but at least 4 private TV networks broadcast in urban areas;
relays of multiple international broadcasters are available (2019)

Internet country code:

.mw

Internet users:

percent of population: 9.6% (July 2016 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions:

total: 9,220

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (2017 est.)

Transportation

 National air transport system:

number of registered air carriers: 1 (2015)

Malawi
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 2 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 6,010 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 5,467 mt-km (2015)

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix:

7Q(2016)

Airports

32 (2013)

Airports- with paved runaways:

total: 7 (2017)

over 3,047 m: 1 (2017)

1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2017)

914 to 1,523 m: 4 (2017)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 25 (2013)

1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2013)

914 to 1,523 m: 11 (2013)

under 914 m: 13 (2013)

Railways:

total: 767 km (2014)

narrow gauge: 767 km 1.067-m gauge (2014)

Roadways:

total: 15,452 km (2015)

paved: 4,074 km (2015)

Malawi
unpaved: 11,378 km (2015)

Waterways:

700 km (on Lake Nyasa [Lake Malawi] and Shire River) (2010)

Ports and terminals:

lake port(s): Chipoka, Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota,

Chilumba (Lake Nyasa)

People and Society

Population:
19,842,560 (July 2018 est.)
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects
of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life
expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Nationality:
noun: Malawian(s)
adjective: Malawi
Ethnic Groups
Chewa 34.3%, Lomwe 18.8%, Yao 13.2%, Ngoni 10.4%, Tumbuka
9.2%, Sena 3.8%, Mang'anja 3.2%, Tonga 1.8%, Nyanja 1.8%,
Nkhonde 1%, other 2.2%, foreign .3% (2018 est.)
Languages:
English (official), Chichewa (common), Chinyanja, Chiyao,
Chitumbuka, Chilomwe, Chinkhonde, Chingoni, Chisena, Chitonga,
Chinyakyusa, Chilambya
Religions:
Protestant 33.5% (includes Church of Central Africa Presbyterian
14.2%, Seventh Day Adventist/Baptist 9.4%, Pentecostal 7.6%,
Malawi
Anglican 2.3%), Roman Catholic 17.2%, other Christian 26.6%,
Muslim 13.8%, traditionalist 1.1%, other 5.6%, none 2 .1% (2018 est.)
Demographic profile:
Malawi has made great improvements in maternal and child health, but
has made less progress in reducing its high fertility rate. In both rural
and urban areas, very high proportions of mothers are receiving
prenatal care and skilled birth assistance, and most children are being
vaccinated. Malawi’s fertility rate, however, has only declined slowly,
decreasing from more than 7 children per woman in the 1980s to about
5.5 today. Nonetheless, Malawians prefer smaller families than in the
past, and women are increasingly using contraceptives to prevent or
space pregnancies. Rapid population growth and high population
density is putting pressure on Malawi’s land, water, and forest
resources. Reduced plot sizes and increasing vulnerability to climate
change, further threaten the sustainability of Malawi’s agriculturally
based economy and will worsen food shortages. About 8 0% of the
population is employed in agriculture.

Historically, Malawians migrated abroad in search of work, primarily

to South Africa and present-day Zimbabwe, but international migration
became uncommon after the 1970s, and most migration in recent years
has been internal. During the colonial period, Malawians regularly
migrated to southern Africa as contract farm laborers, miners, and
domestic servants. In the decade and a half after independence in
1964, the Malawian Government sought to transform its ec onomy from
one dependent on small-scale farms to one based on estate agriculture.
The resulting demand for wage labor induced more than 300,000
Malawians to return home between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s.
In recent times, internal migration has generally been local, motivated
more by marriage than economic reasons.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 46.17% (male 4,560,940 /female 4,600,184)
15-24 years: 20.58% (male 2,023,182 /female 2,059,765)
25-54 years: 27.57% (male 2,717,613 /female 2,752,983)
55-64 years: 3% (male 284,187 /female 310,393)
65 years and over: 2.69% (male 234,776 /female 298,537) (2018 est.)
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 91 (2015 est.)
Malawi
youth dependency ratio: 85.3 (2015 est.)
elderly dependency ratio: 5.7 (2015 est.)
potential support ratio: 17.4 (2015 est.)
Median age:
total: 16.6 years
male: 16.5 years
female: 16.8 years (2018 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.31% (2018 est.)
Birth rate:
40.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)

Death rate:
7.7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.)
Population distribution:
population density is highest south of Lake Nyasa
Urbanization:
urban population: 17.2% of total population (2019)
rate of urbanization: 4.19% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major urban areas - population:
1.075 million LILONGWE (capital), 905,000 Blantyre-Limbe (2019)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
Malawi
55-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2018 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth:
18.9 years (2015/16 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29
Maternal mortality rate:
349 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 42.1 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 48.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 35.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.2 years
male: 60.2 years
female: 64.3 years (2018 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.43 children born/woman (2018 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate:
59.2% (2015/16)
Drinking water source:
improved:urban: 95.7% of population
rural: 89.1% of population
total: 90.2% of population
unimproved:urban: 4.3% of population
rural: 10.9% of population
total: 9.8% of population (2015 est.)
Current Health Expenditure:
Malawi
9.3% (2015)
Physicians density:
0.02 physicians/1,000 population (2016)
Hospital bed density:
1.3 beds/1,000 population (2011)
Sanitation facility access:
improved:urban: 47.3% of population (2015 est.)
rural: 39.8% of population (2015 est.)
total: 41% of population (2015 est.)
unimproved:urban: 52.7% of population (2015 est.)
rural: 60.2% of population (2015 est.)
total: 59% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
9.2% (2018 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1 million (2018 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
13,000 (2018 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high (2016)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis
A, and typhoid fever (2016)
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever (2016)
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis (2016)
animal contact diseases: rabies (2016)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
5.8% (2016)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
Malawi
11.8% (2015)
Education expenditures:
4% of GDP (2017)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
total population: 62.1%
male: 69.8%
female: 55.2% (2015 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 11 years (2011)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
total: 8.5%
male: 6.7%
female: 10.6% (2017 est)

Government

Country name
conventional long form: Republic of Malawi
conventional short form: Malawi
local long form: Dziko la Malawi
local short form: Malawi
former: British Central African Protectorate, Nyasaland Protectorate,
Nyasaland
Government type:
Malawi
presidential republic
Capital:
name: Lilongwe
geographic coordinates: 13 58 S, 33 47 E
Administrative divisions:
28 districts; Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitip a, Dedza,
Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Likoma, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi,
Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Neno, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay,
Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Phalombe, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo,
Zomba
Independence:
6 July 1964 (from the UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 6 July (1964); note - also called Republic Day
since 6 July 1966
Constitution:
history: previous 1953 (preindependence), 1966; latest drafted January
to May 1994, approved 16 May 1994, entered into force 18 May 1995
amendments: proposed by the National Assembly; passage of
amendments affecting constitutional articles including the sovereignty
and territory of the state, fundamental constitutional principles, human
rights, voting rights, and the judiciary requires majority approval in a
referendum and majority approval by the Assembly; passage of other
amendments requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the
Assembly; amended several times, last in 2017 (2018)
Legal system:
mixed legal system of English common law and customary law;
judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Appeal
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt
jurisdiction
Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
Malawi
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of
Malawi
dual citizenship recognized: no
residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Arthur Peter MUTHARIKA (since 31 May
2014); Vice President Everton CHIMULIRENJI (since 28 May 2019;
note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Arthur Peter MUTHARIKA (since 31
May 2014); Vice President Everton CHIMULIRENJI (since 28 May
2019)
cabinet: Cabinet named by the president
elections/appointments: president directly elected by simple majority
popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election
last held on 21 May 2019 (next to be held in May 2024)
election results: Peter MUTHARIKA elected president; percent of vote
- Peter MUTHARIKA (DPP) 38.6%, Lazarus CHAKWERA (MCP)
35.4%, Saulos CHILIMA (UTM) 20.2%, Atupele MULUZI (UDF)
4.7%, other 3.1%
Legislative branch:
description: unicameral National Assembly (193 seats; members
directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote
to serve 5-year terms)
elections: last held on 21 May 2019 (next to be held in May 2024)
election results: percent of vote by party - n/a; seats by party - DPP 62,
MCP 55, UDF 10, PP 5, other 5, independent 55, vacant 1;
composition - men 161, women 32, percent of women 16.6%
Judicial branch:
highest courts: Supreme Court of Appeal (consists of the chief justice
and at least 3 judges)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice
appointed by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly;
Malawi
other judges appointed by the president upon the recommendation of
the Judicial Service Commission, which regulates judicial officers;
judges serve until age 65
subordinate courts: High Court; magistrate courts; Industrial Relations
Court; district and city traditional or local cou rts
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [Peter MUTHARIKA]
Malawi Congress Party or MCP [Lazarus CHAKWERA]
Peoples Party or PP [Joyce BANDA]
United Democratic Front or UDF [Atupele MULUZI]
United Transformation Movement or UTM [Saulos CHILIMA]
International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, C, CD, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC,
IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA,
MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU
(NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
Ambassador Edward Yakobe SAWERENGERA (since 16 September
2016)
chancery: 2408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 721-0270
FAX: [1] (202) 721-0288
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert SCOTT (since 6 August 2019)
telephone: 265 (0) 1773166
embassy: 16 Jomo Kenyatta Road, Lilongwe 3
mailing address: P.O. Box 30016, Lilongwe 3, Malawi
FAX: 265 (0) 1770471
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green with a
radiant, rising, red sun centered on the black band; black represents
Malawi
the native peoples, red the blood shed in their struggle for freedom,
and green the color of nature; the rising sun represents the hope of
freedom for the continent of Africa
National symbol(s):
lion; national colors: black, red, green