MALAWI

Republic of Malawi

CAPITAL: Lilongwe

FLAG: The national flag is a horizontal tricolor of black, red, and green, with a red rising sun in the center of the black stripe.

ANTHEM: Begins "O God, Bless Our Land of Malawi."

MONETARY UNIT: The kwacha (k) of 100 tambala (t) is the national currency; it replaced the Malawi pound (m£) on 28 August 1970 and was linked with the pound sterling until November 1973. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 tambala, and notes of 50 tambala and 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 kwacha. k1 = $0.00832 (or $1 = k120.21) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Martyrs' Day, 3 March; Kamuzu Day, 14 May; Republic or National Day, 6 July; Mothers' Day, 17 October; National Tree Planting Day, 21 December; Christmas, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable holidays include Good Friday and Easter Monday.

TIME: 2 pm = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

A landlocked country in southeastern Africa, Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) has an area of 118,480 sq km (45,745 sq mi), of which 24,400 sq km (9,420 sq mi) consists of water, chiefly Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Niassa). Comparatively, the area occupied by Malawi is slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania. Malawi extends 853 km (530 mi) n–s and 257 km (160 mi) e–w. It is bounded on the n and e by Tanzania, on the e, s, and sw by Mozambique, and on the w by Zambia, with a total boundary length of 2,881 km (1,790 mi).

Malawi's capital city, Lilongwe, is located in the central part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

Topographically, Malawi lies within the Great Rift Valley system. Lake Malawi, a body of water some 580 km (360 mi) long and about 460 m (1,500 ft) above sea level, is the country's most prominent physical feature. About 75% of the land surface is plateau between 750 m and 1,350 m (2,460 and 4,430 ft) above sea level. Highland elevations rise to over 2,440 m (8,000 ft) in the Nyika Plateau in the north and at Mt. Sapitwa (3,000 m/9,843 ft). The lowest point is on the southern border, where the Shire River approaches its confluence with the Zambezi at 37 m (121 ft) above sea level.

CLIMATE

Variations in altitude in Malawi lead to wide differences in climate. The vast water surface of Lake Malawi has a cooling effect, but because of the low elevation, the margins of the lake have long hot seasons and high humidity, with a mean annual temperature of 24°c (75°f). Precipitation is heaviest along the northern coast of Lake Malawi, where the average is more than 163 cm (64 in) per year; about 70% of the country averages about 75–100 cm (30–40 in) annually.

In general, the seasons may be divided into the cool (May to mid-August); the hot (mid-August to November); the rainy (November to April), with rains continuing longer in the northern and eastern mountains; and the post-rainy (April to May), with temperatures falling in May. Lilongwe, in central Malawi, at an elevation of 1,041 m (3,415 ft), has a moderately warm climate with adequate rainfall. The average daily minimum and maximum temperatures in November, the hottest month, are 17°c (63°f) and 29°c (84°f), respectively; those in July, the coolest month, are 7°c (45°f) and 23°c (73°f).

FLORA AND FAUNA

About 27% of the land area is forested. Grassland, thicket, and scrub are found throughout the country. There are indigenous softwoods in the better-watered areas, with bamboo and cedars on Mt. Sapitwa; evergreen conifers also grow in the highlands. Mopane, baobab, acacia, and mahogany trees are found at lower elevations. There are over 3,700 species of plants found throughout the country.

There are many varieties of animal life. The elephant, giraffe, and buffalo are found in certain areas; hippopotamuses dwell on the shores of Lake Malawi. The kudu, duiker, bushbuck, tsessebe, wildebeest, and hartebeest are among the antelopes to be found. Other mammals in Malawi are the baboon, monkey, hyena, wolf, zebra, lion, nocturnal cat, badger, warthog, and porcupine. In 2000, there were about 195 species of mammals.

There are at least 219 species of birds. Reptiles are plentiful and include freshwater turtle, crocodile, tortoise, marsh terrapin, chameleon, lizard, and many varieties of snakes; the Egyptian cobra has been found in the Shire Valley. Fish abound in the lakes and rivers; species include bream, bass, catfish, mudfish, perch, carp, and trout. The mbuna is a tropical fish protected within the waters of the Lake Malawi National Park. Malawi is rich in insect life and has species in common with tropical West Africa and Tanzania.

ENVIRONMENT

Almost all fertile land is already under cultivation, and continued population pressure raises the threat of soil erosion and exhaustion, as well as infringement on forest resources for agricultural purposes. The demand for firewood has significantly depleted the timber stock. Malawi has about 16 cu km of renewable water resources. About of 96% city dwellers and 62% of the rural population have access to pure water.

The preservation of Malawi's wildlife is a significant environmental issue. As of 2003, 11.2% of the country's natural areas were protected, including Lake Malawi National Park, which is a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Lake Chilwa, which is a Ramsar wetland site. Some of the nation's fish population is threatened with extinction due to pollution from sewage, industrial waste, and agricultural chemicals and siltation of spawning grounds. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the number of threatened species included 7 types of mammals, 13 species of birds, 5 species of amphibians, 9 types of mollusks, 2 species of other invertebrates, and 14 species of plants. Threatened species included the African elephant, cheetah, and African wild dog.

POPULATION

The population of Malawi in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 12,341,000, which placed it at number 70 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 3% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 46% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 99 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–2010 was expected to be 3.2%, a rate the government viewed as too high. The projected population for the year 2025 was 23,750,000.

The overall population density was 104 per sq km (270 per sq mi), which is one of the highest in Africa. The Southern Region has about 50% of the population, the Central Region about 40%, and the Northern Region about 10%.

The UN estimated that 14% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 4.42%. The capital city, Lilongwe, had a population of 587,000 in that year. Other cities (and their estimated populations) include Blantyre (547,500), Mzuzu (99,700), and Zomba (73,400).

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has had a significant impact on the population of Malawi. The UN estimated that 16.1% of adults between the ages of 15–49 were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001. The AIDS epidemic causes higher death and infant mortality rates, and lowers life expectancy.

MIGRATION

Accelerating migration from rural to urban areas contributed to an annual urban growth rate of about 6% in the early 1990s. Between October 1992 and mid-1996, 1.3 million Mozambican refugees repatriated from Malawi; the return of refugees to Mozambique was complete. In 2004 persons of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malawi were 3,682 refugees and 3,335 asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. In 2004 over 1,700 Malawians sought asylum in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Remittances in 2003 were $856,000. In 2005 the net migration rate was estimated at zero per 1,000 population, a significant change from -17.1 per 1,000 in 1990. The government views the migration levels as satisfactory.

ETHNIC GROUPS

The people of Malawi belong mainly to various Central Bantu groups. The Chewas are primarily located in the central regions of the country. The Nyanja live primarily in the south and the Lomwe (Alomwe) live south of Lake Chilwa. Other indigenous Malawians include the Tumbuko, Tonga, and Ngonde. The Ngoni (an offshoot of the Zulus from South Africa) and Yao arrived in the 19th century. There are a few thousand Europeans, mainly of British origin, including descendants of Scottish missionaries. There are also small numbers of Portuguese, Asians (mainly Indians), and persons of mixed ancestry.

LANGUAGES

Numerous Bantu languages and dialects are spoken. Chichewa, the language of the Chewa and Nyanja, is spoken by more than half the population, but the Lomwe, Yao, and Tumbuka have their own widely spoken languages, respectively known as Chilomwe, Chiyao, and Chitumbuka. English and Chichewa are the official languages.

RELIGIONS

As of a 2004 report, it is believed that more than 70% of the population are Christian, with the largest groups being affiliated with the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian (Church of Central Africa Presbyterian—CCAP) churches. There are smaller numbers of Anglicans, Baptists, Evangelicals, and Seventh-Day Adventists. Muslims account for approximately 20% of the population, with most belonging to the Sunni sect. Tribal religionists account for a small percentage of the population. There are also small numbers of Hindus and Baha'is. Certain Christian and Muslim holidays are celebrated as national holidays.

TRANSPORTATION

In 2004, Malawi had 797 km (495 mi) of railways, all of it narrow gauge. The main line of the rail system consisted of a single tracked, 1.067-m/3-ft 6 in (narrow) gauge rail line that ran from Salima to Nsanje, a distance of 439 km (273 mi), and operated by Malawi Railways. The line was extended from Salima to Lilongwe in 1977 and was later extended to Mchinji, on the border with Zambia. At Chipoka, 32 km (20 mi) south of Salima, the railway connects with the Lake Malawi steamer service, also operated by Malawi Railways. The railway line extends, in the south, from Nsanje to the port of Beira in Mozambique. The Central African Railway Co., a subsidiary of Malawi Railways, operates the 26 km (16 mi) span from Nsanje to the Mozambique border. Malawi Railways was privatized in 1999.

In 2002, Malawi had an estimated 14,594 km (9,069 mi) of roads, of which 2,773 km (1,723 mi) were paved. In 2003 there were 11,400 passenger cars, and 14,220 commercial vehicles.

Until 1982, about 95% of Malawi's foreign trade passed through Mozambican ports, mainly by rail connections, but by 1987, because of insurgent activity in Mozambique, over 95% of Malawi's exports were moving through South Africa's port of Durban. The use of this longer route, with only road transport through Malawi, was costing $50 million a year in extra transport expenses. Since 1990, when Mozambican rebels closed down the route, goods have been shipped through Zambia. As of 1999, major Malawi ports and harbors include Chipoka, Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, and Nkhotakota. As of 2003, Malawi had 700 km (435 mi) of navigable waterways on Lake Malawi and on the Shire River.

Airports in 2004 numbered 42, only 6 of which had paved runways as of 2005. Malawi's principal airports include Kamuzu International Airport, at Lilongwe, and Chileka, at Blantyre. Air Malawi, the national airline established in 1967, provides international and domestic air service. National carriers to some other countries in the region operate complementary services to Malawi. There are no direct services to Asia and the Pacific or the Americas. In 2003, about 109,000 passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international airline flights.

HISTORY

Malawi has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years; its earliest peoples were nomadic hunter-gatherers. By the 13th century, Bantu-speaking migrants had entered the region. The Chewa peoples had become dominant by the early 16th century; their clans were consolidated under the leadership of a hereditary ruler called the karonga. Before the coming of the Europeans in the second half of the 19th century, Malawi was an important area of operations for Arab slave traders. The incursions of slaving took a heavy toll on the inhabitants, although the Chewa state never came under direct Arab rule. One of the major stated objectives of British intervention in the territory was to stamp out the slave trade.

The first European to explore the area extensively was David Livingstone, whose reports in the 1850s and 1860s were instrumental in the establishment of a series of mission stations in Nyasaland (as Malawi was then known) during the 1870s. In 1878, the African Lakes Company was formed by Scottish businessmen to supply the missions and provide a "legitimate" alternative to the slave trade. As the company extended its operations, it came into conflict with Yao tribesmen and Arab outposts toward the northern end of Lake Malawi. Fighting ensued in 1887–89, and pacification was completed only some years after the British government had annexed the whole of the territory in 1891. To Sir Harry Johnston, the first commissioner of the protectorate, fell the task of wiping out the remaining autonomous slave-trading groups. These antislavery operations were assisted by gunboats of the Royal Navy.

Nyasaland attracted a small group of European planters in the first decades of the 20th century. This group settled mainly in the Shire Highlands, and its numbers were never large. The territory was viewed by the imperial government as a tropical dependency, rather than as an area fit for widespread white settlement; many of the frictions that marred race relations in the Rhodesias were therefore minimized in Nyasaland. Missionaries and colonial civil servants consistently outnumbered planters in the European community, and lands occupied by European estates accounted for only a small part of the total land area.

Between World Wars I and II, the policy of the imperial government was built around the concept of "indirect rule"—that is, increasing the political responsibility of the African peoples by building on the foundations of their indigenous political institutions. Although this policy was not implemented at a rapid pace, it was generally assumed that Nyasaland would ultimately become an independent African-led state. In 1953, however, Nyasaland was joined with the two Rhodesias—Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)—in the Central African Federation. The Africans' reaction to this political arrangement was hostile. Disturbances sparked by opposition to the federation in 1959 led to the declaration of a state of emergency, and some Africans, including Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, were detained.

The African political leaders imprisoned in Southern Rhodesia were released in April 1960, and they gathered African support for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). The MCP increased the campaign against federation rule and in the August 1961 elections polled more than 90% of the vote, winning all of the 20 lower-roll seats and two of eight upper-roll places. An era of "responsible" government then began, with the MCP obtaining five, and eventually seven, of the 10 available Executive Council positions. At a constitutional conference held in London in November 1962, it was agreed that Nyasaland should become fully self-governing early in 1963, and that Banda, who headed the MCP, should become prime minister. On 19 December 1962, the British government announced acceptance "in principle" of the right of Nyasaland to secede from the federation.

In February 1963, as scheduled, Nyasaland became a self-governing republic. In July, at a conference held at Victoria Falls, it was decided that the Central African Federation would break up by the end of the year. In October, Banda visited the United Kingdom and successfully negotiated full independence, effective in mid-1964 after a general election based on universal adult suffrage. Accordingly, on 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became a fully independent Commonwealth country and adopted the name Malawi. On 6 July 1966, Malawi became a republic, and Banda assumed the presidency. After the constitution was amended in November 1970, Banda became president for life.

During the first decade of Banda's presidency, Malawi's relations with its black-ruled neighbors were sometimes stormy. At the opening session of the MCP convention in September 1968, President Banda made a claim to extensive territories outside the present boundaries of Malawi. The claim covered the whole of Lake Malawi and parts of Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia.

The Tanzanian government asserted that President Banda could make territorial claims only because he had the support of South Africa, Rhodesia (which at that time had a white minority government), and Portugal (which then still ruled Mozambique). In fact, in 1967, Malawi had become the first black African country to establish diplomatic relations with white-ruled South Africa; in August 1971, moreover, Banda became the first black African head of state to be officially received in South Africa, which supplied arms and development funds to Malawi.

The Banda government also faced some internal opposition. In October 1967, the Malawi government announced that a group of rebels, numbering about 25, wearing police uniforms and posing as insurgents from Mozambique, had entered Malawi with the intention of killing President Banda and his ministers. Eventually, eight of the rebels were convicted of treason and sentenced to death; five others, including Ledson Chidenge, a member of the National Assembly, were sentenced to death for the murder of a former official of the MCP.

The aging Banda continued to rule Malawi with an iron hand through the 1970s and into the late 1980s. Several thousand people were imprisoned for political offenses at one time or another during his rule. One of these was former Justice Minister Orton Chirwa, leader of an opposition group in exile, who in May 1983 was sentenced to death after having reportedly been abducted from a town across the Zambian border in late 1981. Chirwa's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1984. He died in prison in October 1992. The leader of another dissident group, Attati Mpakati, was assassinated in Harare, Zimbabwe, in March 1983. Three government ministers and a member of parliament—two of them key leaders of the MCP, with one of them, party secretary-general Dick Matenje, regarded as a possible successor to Banda—died in the middle of May 1983 in a mysterious car accident. Another staunch critic of the Banda regime, the journalist Mkwapatira Mhango, was killed together with nine members of his family in a bomb attack in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1989.

A serious problem in the 1980s concerned the activities of the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR), which, in its efforts (backed by South Africa) to bring down the government in Maputo, seriously disrupted Malawi's railway links with Mozambique ports. As a result, an increasing share of Malawi's trade had to be routed by road through Zambia and South Africa at great expense. In 1987, Malawi allowed Mozambican troops to patrol areas along their common border and sent several hundred troops into northeast Mozambique to help guard the railway leading to the port of Nacala. Other critical problems for Malawi, particularly during the late 1980s and the early 1990s were the nation's growing debt burden, severe drought, and the nearly one million refugees from Mozambique, most of whom have now returned to Mozambique.

In 1992, Banda's grip began to weaken. In March, Malawi's eight Roman Catholic bishops issued a pastoral letter protesting detention without trial and harsh treatment of political prisoners. University students demonstrated. Wildcat strikes and rioting in Blantyre and Lilongwe followed the arrest of opposition trade unionist Chakufwa Chihana in May. Nearly 40 were killed by police gunfire in the first significant antigovernment demonstrations since 1964. Chihana was released on bail in September and he formed a new group, the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), that campaigned for multiparty elections. In December, Chihana was sentenced to two years for sedition.

Pressure mounted (including threats by aid donors abroad to suspend assistance), and in October Banda agreed to hold a referendum early in 1993 on whether Malawi should remain a one-party state. In the referendum, on 14 June 1993, 63% of those voting favored adopting multiparty democracy. Two opposition groups, AFORD and the United Democratic Front (UDF), both led by former MCP officials, held a massive rally in January 1993. Meanwhile, three opposition groups in exile merged to form the United Front for Multiparty Democracy, which then merged with the UDF inside Malawi. Chihana was released two days before the referendum.

In July and November 1993, parliament passed bills eliminating from the constitution single-party clauses (such as Hastings Kamuzu Banda's life presidency), appending a bill of rights, establishing a multiparty electoral law, and repealing detention without trial provisions of the Public Security Act. Dialogue among various major parties resulted in the establishment of a National Consultative Council and a National Executive Committee, with representatives from all registered parties, to oversee changes in the constitution, laws, and election rules and procedures. In December 1993, security forces disarmed Banda's paramilitary MCP Young Pioneers.

On 16 May 1994 the National Assembly adopted a provisional constitution, and the country held its first multiparty elections the following day. Bakili Muluzi of the UDF, a former cabinet minister, defeated Banda (MCP), Chihana (AFORD), and Kamlepo Kalua (Malawi Democratic Party). Of the 177 parliamentary seats contested, the UDF took 84, the MCP took 55, and AFORD 36. Muluzi immediately ordered the release of political prisoners and closed the most notorious jails. The new constitution took effect on 18 May 1995.

Malawi's second multiparty elections were held on 15 June 1999. The balloting showed a distinct regional cast to party constituency. Leading the UDF, Muluzi emerged the winner with 51.4% of votes in the presidential elections, followed by the MCP candidate, Gwanda Chakuamba, with 44.3%. Muluzi's UDF won 94 of 193 parliamentary seats, four short of a simple majority. Chakuamba's MCP took 63 seats, and its electoral ally, the AFORD, won 31; four seats went to independents. The results confirmed the regional voting trend set in 1994, with the UDF winning the densely populated south, the MCP strong in the central region and all of AFORD's seats coming from the rugged north.

Although international observers declared the contest free and fair, opponents alleged that the UDF had rigged the elections, and refused to recognize the outcome. Attempts to seek legal redress were rebuffed, leading to riots and the razing of 10 mosques in the north. At least two people were killed. Muluzi was inaugurated in Blantyre on 21 June 1999.

In July 2002, the National Assembly rejected proposals to amend the constitution to allow Muluzi to run for a third term in 2004. The proposals, resubmitted in February 2003, were quickly withdrawn under protests from opposition groups, civil society, and the diplomatic community. In all, three people were killed in the 2002 protests. Muluzi laid to rest speculation over his political intentions when he announced in April 2003 that the UDF National Executive Committee had endorsed a 68-year-old economist, Bingu wa Mutharika, as its presidential candidate for 2004. Mutharika, who hailed from Thyolo District 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Blantyre, was deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi before being appointed minister in the newly created Department of Economics and Planning.

Severe food shortages in 2002 affected some 3.2 million people. The shortages exacerbated living conditions for more than 65% of the population considered "poor," and for some 15% of the adult population infected with HIV/AIDS. Widows of AIDS victims were increasingly subjected to property grabbing by relatives.

In June 2003, overriding a court order, the government deported five men accused of al-Qaeda connections. Muslim protests in the central district of Kasungu were disbursed by police using rubber bullets and tear gas. In the town of Mangochi in the south, Muslim demonstrators looted seven churches and the offices of Save the Children USA. About 50 Muslims stormed the police station where the detainees were being held, but were repelled by the police. Two of the five men headed local charities, while a third was a teacher at a Muslim school. Muluzi, himself a Muslim, declared that religious intolerance would not be allowed.

The third presidential and legislative elections were held on 20 May 2004. These elections had been scheduled to be held on 18 May, but were postponed for two days because the opposition complained of irregularities in the voters' roll. The opposition argued that the number of voters on the roll was several times larger than the eligible population of voting age in Malawi. The results were announced on 25 May by the Malawi Electoral Commission. Bingu wa Mutharika, the UDF candidate who had been handpicked by outgoing President Muluzi, was declared elected. Mutharika received 35% of the votes, John Tembo of the MCP received 27%, Gwanda Chakuamba—the candidate of the Mgwirizano Coalition—received 26%, Brown Mpinganjira of the National Democratic Alliance received 8%, and Justin Malewezi of the Peoples' Progressive Movement received 3%. Of the 193 National Assembly seats available, the MCP won 60 seats, the UDF won 49, the Mgwirizano Coalition won 28, and independents won 38. This is in stark contrast to the 1999 elections in which the UDF almost won a majority of the seats.

Surveys conducted by Malawi media groups before the election had put Gwanda Chakuamba, the candidate of the Mgwirizano Coalition—a seven-party opposition coalition—in the lead. Immediately after the announcement of the results riots broke out in the major cities of Malawi, particularly Blantyre, the stronghold of Chakuamba, and a number of people lost their lives, shot by the police. Both Chakuamba and John Tembo of the MCP immediately challenged the results in court and demanded a recount. Following the elections in 2004 the political climate in Malawi remained unstable. As of early 2006, the National Assembly was in the process of impeaching Bingu wa Mutharika, who, in February 2005, left the UDF to form his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

After Banda was forced to liberalize his regime, Mutharika was one of the founders of the United Democratic Front, the party that won Malawi's first multiparty elections in 1994. Mutharika was at that time a supporter of the UDF leader, President Bakili Muluzi, but he soon became a critic of Muluzi's economic policies and left the UDF. He formed the United Party (UP) in 1997 and unsuccessfully opposed Muluzi in the 1999 presidential elections. Mutharika dissolved the UP and rejoined the UDF after being offered the deputy governorship at the Reserve Bank of Malawi. Immediately after being elected president in 2004, Mutharika fell out of favor with his predecessor and supporter, Muluzi, because of Mutharika's zero tolerance policy toward corruption. Once out of the presidency, Muluzi refused to retire as head of UDF and remained its chair. Muluzi's staunch supporters accused Mutharika of persecuting and harassing them through his campaign to end corruption. There was talk of firing Mutharika from the UDF. On 5 February 2005, Mutharika announced his resignation from the UDF and formed his own political party, the DPP. There was also an alleged assassination plot against him by UDF stalwarts in early January 2005. Those accused were later pardoned by Mutharika, but he maintained the existence of the plot.

Mutharika continued to fight for his political survival as opposition parties forged ahead with plans to impeach him. The fight pitted Mutharika against former president of the country and now chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF), Muluzi, with the UDF proposing an impeachment motion after Mutharika left the party which had sponsored him in the 2004 national elections. Mutharika's formation of his own political organization, DPP, effectively relegated the UDF to an opposition rather than a ruling party. Thus, on paper, the opposition parties formed the largest bloc in parliament while Mutharika's party, the DPP, did not have any seats. Muluzi aggressively sought the cooperation of the other opposition parties (which included John Tembo's MCP and Gwanda Chakuamba's Republican Party) to oust Mutharika through impeachment proceedings. He promised that once Mutharika was removed, a national governing council composed of the leaders of the three major political parties would rule the country. Such a promise contradicts the constitution, which notes that in the event of a vacancy in the presidency, the vice president automatically takes over.

As of mid-2006, Malawi's political crisis had not been resolved, with the former president (Muluzi) facing a corruption probe from the government's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), and his successor (Mutharika) facing impeachment in parliament. The ACB is carrying out what UDF sees as politically motivated investigations into allegations that Muluzi deposited Kwacha 1.4 billion (us$11.4 million) of donor funds into his personal account for his own personal use during his tenure as president. Although Mutharika was seen as having narrowly won the possibly rigged presidential elections in May 2004 under a UDF ticket, once in office he quickly won public support for his anticorruption drive, which also received the backing of donors who had unfrozen aid to the country. In October 2005, there were a number of demonstrations both for and against Mutharika's impeachment. UDF supporters marched in the commercial capital of Blantyre, demanding the immediate impeachment and removal of Mutharika from office. On 24 October 2005, as an impeachment motion was tabled in parliament by UDF, angry DPP supporters and sympathizers marched on parliament to protest against the proposed motion. The demonstrations turned violent with marchers vandalizing cars of opposition MPs.

Observers note that important national issues such as a worsening food crisis and the plight of HIV/AIDS victims were sidelined by the political wrangle. Instead of tackling these issues the government was distracted and the parliament lost focus to assist in tackling these issues. During the last days of the Muluzi presidency, Western donors froze balance of payments support to Malawi over corruption and governance concerns. However, with Mutharika's strong anticorruption stance, aid began to flow back into the country. However, continuing political crisis could again jeopardize foreign development assistance to Malawi.

GOVERNMENT

Malawi officially became a republic on 6 July 1966, and its first constitution was adopted that year. The current constitution took effect on 18 May 1995 reaffirming the president as the head of state and supreme executive authority. In July 2003, he led a 38-member cabinet. Legislative power is vested in a unicameral parliament comprising a National Assembly of 193 seats with members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. The most recent elections were held in 2004.

POLITICAL PARTIES

Malawi was officially a one-party state from October 1973 until July 1993. The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was the national party and Hastings Kamuzu Banda was its president for life. All candidates for the National Assembly had to be members of the MCP.

For years the opposition groups in exile achieved little success in their efforts to unseat the Banda government. The Socialist League of Malawi (LESOMA), with headquarters in Harare, was directed by Attati Mpakati until his assassination in March 1983. A second group, the Malawi Freedom Movement (MAFREMO), based in Tanzania, was led by Orton Chirwa, who was seized by Malawi authorities in late 1981 and imprisoned for life until his death in 1992. The Congress for the Second Republic, also based in Tanzania, was led by former External Affairs Minister Kanyama Chiume. The Save Malawi Committee (SAMACO) was formed in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1983.

In September 1992, trade unionist Chakufwa Chihana formed the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) before being convicted of sedition. AFORD and others pushed successfully for a referendum on adopting a multiparty system, and the United Democratic Front (UDF) combined with a coalition in exile (the United Front for Multiparty Democracy) late in 1992.

From the introduction of multiparty competition in May 1994 to the elections in 2004, the UDF and its leader, Bakili Muluzi, dominated the political arena. In the 1994 presidential contest, Muluzi garnered 47.3% of the vote, and his party 84 of the 177 elective seats in the National Assembly. Muluzi obtained 51.4% of the vote in the 1999 presidential poll, and the UDF won 94 of 193 Assembly seats. However, a shake-up in UDF hierarchy in 2003 revealed vulnerabilities in the party's leadership and organization. This led to Muluzi handpicking his successor, Bingu wa Mutharika, who narrowly won 36% of the vote in the controversial May 2004 elections. Furthermore, UDF won only 49 out of the 193 seats in parliament, showing that the dominance the UDF had during Muluzi's tenure had considerably waned. Bingu wa Mutharika then abandoned the UDF and moved on to form his own political party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a move which infuriated Bakili Muluzi who attempted to lure other opposition parties to join him in impeaching Mutharika.

Since the 2003 shake-up in the UDF hierarchy, dissenters from this shake-up have formed their own political parties. The splinter group parties from the UDF include the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) founded by Brown Mpinganjira, who fell out of favor with Bakili Muluzi. At the general elections of May 2004 this party won 8 out of 193 seats. Brown Mpinganjira later de-registered his party and rejoined the UDF. Other former UDF and non-UDF leaders of smaller parties formed a loose electoral alliance called the Mgwirizano Coalition. This coalition includes seven smaller parties: Malawi Democratic Party, Malawi Forum for Unity and Development, Movement for Genuine Democratic Change, National Unity Party, People's Progressive Movement, People's Transformation Party, and Republican Party. Gwanda Chakuamba, founder and leader of the Republican Party, was the presidential candidate for the Mgwirizano Coalition in the May 2004 elections. He won 26% of the vote and the Mgwirizano Coalition won 27 out of 193 seats.

A recent addition to the Malawi political landscape is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which was the ruling political party in Malawi as of mid-2006. It was formed in February 2005 by Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika after a dispute with the United Democratic Front. There were allegations that members of the former governing UDF did not adequately tackle corruption. The many defections from UDF greatly weakened the position of UDF in both the government and the national assembly. A plethora of smaller parties could wield power if they formed effective coalitions, as illustrated by the Mgwirizano Coalition.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

In 1996, Malawi was divided into three administrative regions—Northern, Central, and Southern—which were subdivided into 24 districts. In 2005 the number of districts was increased to 28 as some large districts were sub-divided into two. District councils provide markets, postal agencies, roads, and rural water supplies and exercise control over business premises and the brewing and sale of beer. More important, however, are the councils' responsibilities for primary education. Some of the councils run public health clinics. Council expenditures are mainly financed from direct government education grants, calculated to meet the salaries of teachers in most of the district schools. Other sources of revenue include annual taxes on all males over the age of 17 years who are residents in the district and charges for services rendered.

Town councils have powers similar to those of the district councils, but with greater emphasis on the problems that arise in urban areas. Their main functions are sewerage, removal of refuse, the abatement of nuisances, construction and maintenance of roads, and, in some cases, the provision of fire-fighting services. Revenue for town councils comes mainly from direct taxes on property.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Since 1969, Malawi has operated under two parallel court systems. The first is based on the United Kingdom legal system with local courts and a local appeals court in each district. Formerly, these courts heard all cases of customary law and had wide statutory, criminal, and civil jurisdiction. The upper layers consist of the Supreme Court of Appeal, the High Court, and magistrates' courts. A chief justice and four puisne judges appointed by the president staff the High Court. There is a chain of appeals from the local courts up to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

A second system was established in November 1969, when the National Assembly empowered the president to authorize traditional African courts to try all types of criminal cases and to impose the death penalty; the president was also permitted to deny the right of appeal to the High Court against sentences passed by the traditional courts, a right formerly guaranteed by the constitution. Traditional court justices are all appointed by the president. Appeals from traditional courts go to the district traditional appeals courts and then to the National Traditional Appeal Court. Appeals from regional traditional courts, which are criminal courts of the first instance, go directly to the National Traditional Appeal Court.

In 1993, the attorney general suspended the operation of regional and national level traditional courts in response to a report by the National Consultative Council on problems in the workings of the traditional court system. Since then the trend is toward moving serious criminal and political cases from traditional to modern courts. Education and training seminars have led to some improvements in the functioning of the local traditional courts.

The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, which is respected in practice. Defendants have the right to public trial, to have an attorney, to challenge evidence and witnesses, and to appeal. The constitution superseded many old repressive laws. The High Court may overturn old laws that conflict with the constitution.

ARMED FORCES

In 2005, Malawi had an army of 5,300 personnel, organized into 3 infantry battalions, 1 independent paratroop battalion, 1 Marine company and 1 support battalion. The Army's air wing numbered 200 and the maritime wing had 220 members. There was a paramilitary gendarmerie of 1,500 in the mobile police force. In 2005, the defense budget totaled $12.8 million.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Malawi became a member of the United Nations on 1 December 1964; the nation participates in ECA and several nonregional specialized agencies, such as the FAO, World Bank, ILO, IFC, UNESCO, UNIDO, and the WHO. Malawi also belongs to the WTO, the African Development Bank, the ACP Group, the Commonwealth of Nations, COMESA, G-77, the African Union, and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The country is a member of the Nonaligned Movement and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The government has offered support to UN missions and operations in Kosovo (est. 1999), Liberia (est. 2003), the DROC (est. 1999), and Burundi (est. 2004).

In environmental cooperation, Malawi is part of the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on Climate Change and Desertification.

ECONOMY

Malawi is an agricultural economy which, in recent years, has been troubled by drought and financial instability. It is dependent for most of its income on the export sales of tobacco (60%), and tea and sugar (20%). Other agricultural products include peanuts, coffee, and wood products. As a result of the 1992 drought, GDP declined by 7.9% after averaging 4.5% annual growth in 1989–91, and an impressive 6.7% annual growth rate during the 1970s. Growth averaged an annual 3.7% from 1988 to 1998. In 2001 GDP grew at -4.9% owing to a devastating drought. It was 1.8% in 2002, 4.4% in 2003, 4.2% in 2004 and 1% in 2005. International aid donors, concerned about human rights abuses in Malawi, have tied future support to human rights reforms. Beginning in 2000, the country was the recipient of $1 billion in debt service relief under the IMF/World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.

Manufacturing is small-scale, directed mainly to the processing of export crops. In 2000, the agricultural sector employed an estimated 86% of Malawi's population and accounted for about 40% of GDP. Over 90% of the population lives in rural areas. The sector experienced severe droughts in 1979–81, 1992, 1994, and 2001–02. Periods of flooding also plague Malawi, as happened in 2003. Production of maize, the main food staple, during the 2001/02 growing season was 1.6 million metric tons, approximately 600,000 short of estimated domestic demand. The World Bank approved a $50-million assistance package for drought recovery in Malawi in November 2002. Other environmental challenges include deforestation and erosion. Recent economic reforms have led to the market pricing in the agricultural sector. The fledgling mining sector in Malawi is slowly growing with the support of international financing.

The government continues to privatize the ownership of public enterprises although the wealth of the country resides in the hands of a small elite. By 2005, about 50% of the more than 90 state-owned enterprises had been sold to private hands, 22% were actively being offered for privatization and an additional 13% had been earmarked for future transfer to the private sector.

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Malawi's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $7.6 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $600. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 1%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 15.4%. It was estimated that in 2005 agriculture accounted for 35.9% of GDP, industry 14.5%, and services 49.6%.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $1 million and accounted for approximately 0.1% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $498 million or about $45 per capita and accounted for approximately 29.8% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Malawi totaled $1.46 billion or about $132 per capita based on a GDP of $1.7 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 4.4%. Approximately 50% of household consumption was spent on food, 7% on fuel, 2% on health care, and 6% on education. It was estimated that in 2004 about 55% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

LABOR

As of 2001, the economically active population was estimated at 4.5 million. According to a 2003 estimate, 90% of the labor force engaged in agriculture. There is very little industry, and no available data on unemployment.

Although sanctioned by law, union membership is quite low due to the small number of workers in the formal sector of the economy. About 15% of the workforce was unionized in 2002. The only labor federation was the Trades Union Congress of Malawi, to which all unions belonged. In theory, unions have the right to organize, bargain collectively, and strike, but in practice labor relations are still in development.

The minimum working age is 14, but many children work due to cultural norms, agricultural predominance, and severe economic hardship. In 2002, the minimum wage was approximately $0.89 per day in urban areas and $0.66 in rural areas. This does not provide an adequate living wage. The legal maximum workweek is 48 hours but this regulation is not generally enforced.

AGRICULTURE

The agricultural sector is drought-prone and experienced severe droughts in 1979–81, 1992, and 1994. About 77% of the total land area of Malawi is under customary tenure—that is, subject to land allocation by village headmen based on traditional rights of succession by descent. Estate farming occupies about 23% of the cultivated land and provides about 90% of export earnings. In all, about 21% of Malawi's total land area is arable. Malawi is self-sufficient in food production (except during droughts), but the population increased more rapidly than the food supply in the 1980s.

Tobacco was first grown in 1889 near Blantyre in southern Malawi. Today, most production comes from the central region (around Lilongwe). Tobacco production was estimated at a record 160,014 tons in 1996 but fell to 69,500 tons in 2004. Malawi exports more than 95% of the tobacco it produces, which generates some 70% of all foreign earnings. Malawi's tobacco sector is in transition away from a rigid government-controlled system to a more market-oriented system that includes smallholder tobacco growers.

Tea, a major export crop, is produced mostly on estates; about 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) are in tea plantations, mainly in the Mulanje and Thyolo districts. Production in 2004 was 45,000 tons. Sugarcane production was about 2,100,000 tons in 2004. Other cash crops produced in 2004 include peanuts, 61,000 tons, and seed cotton, 40,000 tons.

Although subsistence farmers participate in the production of export crops more extensively now than in the preindependence period, much customary agriculture is still devoted to cereal production. Pressure of population on the land is mounting and, in a few areas, expansion of acreage under export crops has been discouraged in favor of food production. Corn is the staple food crop; about 1,733,000 tons were produced in 2004. Late rains, floods, and an increasing Mozambican refugee population kept corn production from meeting domestic demand during the mid-1990s. Other food crops, with 2004 estimated production figures, include cassava, 2,559,000 tons; potatoes, 1,784,000 tons; beans, 79,000 tons; sorghum, 45,000 tons; plantains, 200,000 tons; bananas, 93,000 tons; and paddy rice, 50,000 tons.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Animal husbandry plays a minor role in the economy. Pressure on the land for cultivation is sufficiently intense in many areas to rule out stock-keeping on any scale. In 2005 there were an estimated 1,900,000 goats, 750,000 head of cattle, 456,000 hogs, and 115,000 sheep. The number of poultry was estimated at 15.2 million in 2005. Meat production totaled 59,000 tons in 2004, including 21,000 tons of pork and 16,000 tons of beef. Milk production was estimated at 35,000 tons.

FISHING

The growing commercial fishing industry is concentrated mainly in Lake Malawi, with small-scale activity in Lake Malombe, Lake Chilwa, and the Shire River. Fish farming is carried on in the south. The total catch in 2003 was estimated at 54,200 tons. Large employers of labor in the Southern Region are the major buyers, and much of the catch is sold directly to them. Fish from Lake Malawi contribute about 70% of animal protein consumption.

FORESTRY

Forests and woodlands cover an estimated 2.6 million hectares (6.3 million acres), or 27% of the land area. Natural forests are extensive, and in the high-altitude regions, the Forestry Department is engaged in a softwood afforestation program. However, Malawi's annual rate of deforestation was 2.4% during 1990–2000. Sizable plantations of pine, cypress, and cedar have been established. Roundwood removals in 2004 were estimated at 5,621,000 cu m (198,400,000 cu ft), of which 91% went for fuel.

MINING

Quarrying for limestone and other building materials was the major mining activity in Malawi, but gemstones, including agate, amethyst, aquamarine, garnet, rhodolite, rubies, and sapphires, have also been produced, on a small scale. In 2004, a total of 21,224 metric tons of limestone (for cement) was produced. A total of 1,820 kg of gemstones were extracted in 2004, down from 2,297 kg in 2003. Also produced in 2004 were dolomite, lime, and crushed stone for aggregate, as well as possibly clays, sand and gravel, and other stone. The country had known deposits of apatite, asbestos, bauxite, columbium (niobium), corundum, dimension stone (including blue and black granite), galena, gold, granite, graphite, ilmenite, kaolin, kyanite, mica, monazite, phosphate rock, pyrite, rutile, tourmaline, uranium, and vermiculite, which have occasionally been exploited. Prospecting for other minerals has been undertaken, but no resources of commercial significance have been discovered, except for coal, bauxite (28.8 million tons), kaolin (14.1 million tons), silica sand (25 million tons), and monazite and strontianite (11 million tons in Kangankunde Hill). Mining and quarrying accounted for 1% of GDP in 2004. The mining sector in 2003, grew by 23.5%. No minerals were among the leading export commodities. The outlook for Malawi's mineral industry was tied to the country's ability to spur exports, improve educational and health facilities, solve environmental problems of deforestation and erosion, and deal with the rapidly growing problem of HIV/AIDS.

ENERGY AND POWER

Malawi, as of 1 January 2005 had no known petroleum, or natural gas reserves. Nor does it have any oil refining capacity. However, the country does have small recoverable reserves of coal.

In 2004, demand for petroleum products averaged 6,000 barrels per day, all of which was imported. There was no recorded demand or imports of natural gas in that year. Low-grade bituminous coal reserves were known about for many years, but mining did not begin until the last decades of the 20th century. Malawi has recoverable coal reserves of about 2 million short tons, reported as of July 2005. In 2003, coal consumption came to 0.02 million short tons.

Both the consumption and the production of electric power are small, even by African standards. Installed capacity, as of 1 January 2003 totaled 308,000 kW, the bulk of which is hydroelectric. In 2002, hydropower accounted for a little more than 93% of capacity, with conventional thermal plants accounting for the rest. In 2003, electric power output totaled 1.30 billion kWh, with demand that year at 1.21 billion kWh.

INDUSTRY

After a decade of rapid expansion—11% average growth per year in the 1970s—the pace of manufacturing growth slowed to 3.6% during 1980–90, and during 1990–2000, to 1.7%. In 2004, industry accounted for 19% of GDP.

Although Malawi's manufacturing sector is small, it is diverse. The processing of tea, tobacco, sugar, coffee, cement, and cotton accounts for most of its output. Factories manufacture soap, detergents, cigarettes, furniture, cookies, bread, blankets and rugs, clothing, and mineral waters. Other installations include a gin distillery, a cotton mill, and two textile plants. Brick making is well established. Roofing tiles are also produced, and radios are assembled. Other products made in Malawi include agricultural implements, bicycle frames, polishes, edible oils and fats, cattle foodstuffs, flour, matches, fishing nets, rope, twine and yarns, toiletries, and footwear. Two plants in Malawi retread tires, and its industries make a wide range of metal products.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Research stations for tea, tobacco, and other aspects of agriculture conduct their activities under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources maintains forestry and fisheries research units. The University of Malawi includes Bunda College of Agriculture and Kamuzu College of Nursing, both at Lilongwe; Malawi Polytechnic and the College of Medicine at Blantyre; and Chancellor College at Zomba, which has a faculty of science. The Geological Survey of Malawi, founded in 1921, is headquartered in Zomba. The Medical Association of Malawi, founded in 1967, is headquartered in Blantyre.

In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 27% of college and university enrollments. In 2002, high technology exports were valued at $1 million, 3% of the country's manufactured exports.

DOMESTIC TRADE

Domestic trade is concentrated in the larger towns, since transportation of goods to most rural areas is difficult and most rural residents have extremely low incomes. Agriculture is the basis of the economy, with about 90% of the population employed in subsistence farming. Local markets and stands for produce and baked goods prevail.

A small manufacturing sector is located near Blantyre, which is the country's major commercial center. There are a few larger supermarkets and grocery stores in Lilongwe, but with limited inventories. Karonga and Nsanje are the main trading ports. Zomba is a regional commercial center for agriculture. Licenses are required for all persons engaged in trading; fees vary with the nature

of the business. In 2005 inflation was about 15.4% a decline from a high of 22.7%. Per capita GDP was at about $600 in 2004.

Business hours are 7:30 or 8 am to noon and 1 or 1:30 pm to 4:30 or 5 pm, Monday through Friday, and 7:30 or 8 am to noon or 12:30 pm on Saturday. Banks are open weekdays from 8 to 12:30 pm (to 11:30 am on Wednesday and 10:30 am on Saturday).

FOREIGN TRADE

Malawi mostly exports tobacco (66%). Other commodity exports include tea (7.6%), sugar (6.0%), coffee (4.0%), and woven cotton fabrics (2.5%). Tea is sold primarily to the United Kingdom while sugar exports go to the EU and the United States.

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

Malawi runs an annual deficit on current accounts, which is generally mitigated but not annulled by capital inflows, mostly in the form of development loans.

The Economist Intelligence Unit reported that in 2005 the purchasing power parity of Malawi's exports was $364.1 million while imports totaled $645 million resulting in a trade deficit of $280.9 million.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

The Reserve Bank of Malawi was established in Blantyre in 1964. It took over, by stages, the functions in Malawi of the former Bank of Rhodesia and Nyasaland until that bank wound up its affairs in June 1965. The main duties of the Reserve Bank are to maintain currency stability and to act as banker to the government and to the commercial banks. The Reserve Bank administers exchange control and acts as registrar for local registered stock. The Reserve Bank also handles the issue of treasury bills on behalf of the government.

Malawi's financial services are unsophisticated and basic. Aside from the central bank, there are five licensed commercial banks, which are dominated by the two government-owned banks, the National Bank of Malawi and the Commercial Bank of Malawi. In 1999, the NBM was 48% owned by Press Corporation Limited (PCL), and 39% by ADMARC; CBM was 23% owned by PCL, 22% by the Malawi government in direct shareholding, and 17% by the Malawi Development Corporation. The Malawi government owns MDC, ADMARC, and is PCL's largest shareholder (49%). As of 31 March 1999, total assets of the five banks reached about $300 million. The other three commercial banks are the First Merchant Bank Limited, the Finance Bank of Malawi, and Indefinance.

The Investment and Development Bank of Malawi (Indebank), formed in 1972 with foreign and local participation, provides medium- and long-term credit. Although the country's financial market has been liberalized, the sole mortgage finance institution, the New Building Society (NBS), which came into operation at independence in March 1964, faces no competition. The New Building Society's assets stood at $244.5 million in 1995.

A subsidiary of Indebank, the Investment and Development Fund (Indefund), finances small and medium-sized enterprises. The Malawi Development Corporation (MDC), which services the needs of large-scale industry, is state-owned. The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was restructured in 1994 and licensed as a commercial bank, the Malawi Savings Bank (MSB). Other major financial institutions include Loita Investment Bank, the Leasing and Financing Co. of Malawi (LFC), the Malawi Rural Finance Company (MRFC), and the Finance Corporation of Malawi (FINCOM).

The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to $136.1 million. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was $268.3 million. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 46.8%.

The Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) was established in December 1994 along with Stockbrokers Malawi to deal with listed company shares and to act as a broker in government and other securities

approved by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM). The stock exchange had no listings until November 1996, when shares in NICO were put up for sale. Since November 1994, the RBM has marketed Treasury bills of varying maturities (30, 61, 91, and 182 days) in an attempt to encourage greater participation by the private sector.

INSURANCE

Most insurance firms operating in Malawi are owned or sponsored by parent companies in the United Kingdom. However, the leading company, the National Insurance Co. (NICO), is owned by Malawi interests. There were seven insurance companies in operation in 1997. Motor vehicle insurance is compulsory.

PUBLIC FINANCE

Government revenues derive from import duties, income taxes on companies and individuals, income from government enterprises, excise duties, licenses, and value-added taxes. The fiscal year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Government consumption, which had an average annual growth rate of 7.0% during the 1980s, declined by 4.0% annually during the 1990s, and by 9.5% in 1998. Education, health, and agriculture were the three biggest items on the budget for 2000.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Malawi's central government took in revenues of approximately $844.6 million and had expenditures of $913.9 million. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$69.3 million. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 208.6% of GDP. Total external debt was $3.284 billion.

TAXATION

Individuals pay taxes on all income from Malawi, whether they are residents or nonresidents. Most operating businesses are required to prepay estimated tax on a quarterly basis. The corporate income tax in 2005 was 30%. Branches of foreign companies were taxed at 35%, but reduced rates applied to insurance businesses (21%), and to ecclesiastical, charitable or educational institutions or trusts (25%). Companies operating in export processing zones (EPZs) are exempt from corporate tax, and companies operating in priority areas can qualify for a ten-year exemption, followed by a reduced 15% tax rate, when the exemption expires. Other tax allowances are offered—for mining companies, for manufacturers, for exports, for training, among others—as investment incentives. Royalties, rents, fees and commissions are subject to a 20% withholding tax. Interest from banks is also subject to a 20% withholding rate if the interest is over 10,000 kwacha.

The income of individuals and partnerships is taxed according to a graduated scale with rates from 0–30%. For 2004, the government introduced a new top rate of 40%, and raised the threshold for taxable income from 30,000 kwacha to 36,000 kwacha (about $340 to $410). Municipal taxes are based on property valuations.

Malawi's main indirect tax is a 17.5% value-added tax (VAT) which applies to goods and selected services, including luxury goods and electronics, as well as imports.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

Trade licenses are required for the import and export of certain goods, including military uniforms, wild animals, some food, and military equipment. Malawi is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), granting trade preferences to member states. The country also has bilateral trade agreements with Zimbabwe and South Africa, granting the duty-free exchange of goods.

In 1998, the government eliminated export taxes on tobacco, sugar, tea, and coffee. Machinery, basic foodstuffs, and raw materials are admitted with a 10–5% tax. In July 1999, the maximum tariff rate was reduced from 30% of value to 25%. Tariffs on intermediate goods and raw materials were reduced from 10% to 5% and from 5% to 0%, respectively.

Luxury goods are assessed at higher rates than ordinary consumer items. Excise duties are levied for revenue purposes on spirits, beer, cigarettes and tobacco, petroleum products, and certain other items.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

The government actively encourages foreign investment, particularly in agriculture and in import-substitution and labor-intensive industries. Incentives such as exclusive licensing rights, tariff protection, and liberal depreciation allowances are offered. These incentives also include a tax allowance of 40% for new buildings and machinery, 20% for used buildings and machinery, and a 100% deduction for a manufacturing company's operating expenses for the first two years. Other incentives are: no import duty on heavy goods vehicles, raw materials for manufacturing, a maximum import tariff rate of 25%, no withholding tax on dividends, and tax holidays. Exporters do not have to pay the normal taxes or import duties. Repatriation of dividends and profits are freely permitted.

Encouraged by the formation of the Malawi Development Corp. and the implementation of a development plan, foreign investment increased in the mid-1960s. A sugar scheme on the lower Shire River was financed to a great extent by foreign investment, as were a distillery and a brewery. In 1987, Lever Brothers, Portland Cement, and David Whitehead and Sons had industrial plants in Malawi. The large plantation enterprises were originally established with capital largely from the United Kingdom. Exploration for oil under Lake Malawi began in 1999 but has not yielded any positive results so far.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malawi was $22 million in 1997, but rose to $70 million in 1998. Annual FDI inflow averaged between $45 million and $60 million for the period 1999 to 2001.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

During the first decades of independence, agricultural development was emphasized. The government sought to implement this policy by providing the family farmer with basic agricultural support facilities, such as extension services, training, irrigation, and research, and by increasing the output of fertile areas through farm credit, marketing, and processing facilities. During this period, four major agricultural developments were sponsored: the Shire Valley Agricultural Development Project in the south; the Lilongwe Land Development Program and the Central Region Lakeshore Development Project, both in the Central Region; and the Karonga Rural Development Project in the north.

More recently, improvements in the transportation infrastructure, especially in roads, have been emphasized. In the manufacturing sector, the government has stressed diversification. With major constraints on its foreign exchange, Malawi aims to reduce the trade gap, encourage exports, and reduce government expenditures.

The United Kingdom has traditionally been Malawi's principal aid donor. South Africa has been a significant source of aid as well, especially in financing construction in the capital at Lilongwe and the railway extension from Lilongwe to Mchinji. Other significant aid donors have included the European Union, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United States, Denmark, the African Development Bank, and the World Bank/IDA. In 1998, Malawi started a six-month International Monetary Fund (IMF) macroeconomic program aimed at reigning in the almost 60% inflation rate, with little success as of 1999.

In 2000, Malawi was approved for $1 billion in debt service relief under the IMF/World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, to support poverty reduction efforts through expenditures on health, education, and rural development, among other areas. Also in 2000, Malawi negotiated a three-year $58 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) Arrangement with the IMF, which was to expire in December 2003. In September 2002, the IMF approved $23 million in emergency relief to support large imports of food due to shortages that year, and to fight malnutrition and starvation, particularly among those affected with HIV/AIDS. Recent government initiatives have targeted improvements in roads, and with participation from the private sector, improvements in railroads and telecommunications.

A new three-year PRGF was signed with the IMF, worth $56 million, which commenced in July 2005. The main aim of the new PRGF is to restore fiscal discipline, with the priority on reducing domestic debt. The signing of the new PRGF increased the probability that Malawi will reach completion point around mid-2006 under the IMF-World Bank heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) debt relief initiative. Once this completion point is reached a reduction in debt stock will be awarded by the IMF-World Bank. However, as the Economist Intelligence Unit states, various criteria need to be achieved before this can occur. First, the government needs to have its first two PRGF reviews concluded successfully by the end of January 2006. Second, it needs to have achieved one year of successful implementation of the poverty reduction program, which could be met by the end of 2005. Third, it must complete 11 specific completion point triggers, which would take a minimum of one year. However, the most important thing is that donors have resumed financial assistance to Malawi following the recent IMF deal, with the UK Department of International Development the first to resume funding of £20 million ($37 million) for budgetary support.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Pensions systems exists for public employees only. Government hospitals and clinics provides some medical services free to residents. Employers are required to obtain private worker's injury insurance. Worker's compensation is provided for disability and survivor benefits.

The constitution specifies equal rights for women and minorities, but women face widespread discrimination in the home and in employment opportunities. Spousal abuse is common, and the authorities rarely intervene. Inheritance practices often leave widows without their share of the family's assets. Women are much more likely to be illiterate than their male counterparts. In 2004 the government addressed women's concerns, focusing on gender balance in political representation.

Some human rights abuses continued to occur under the democratic government. The use of excessive force and the mistreatment of prisoners is reported. Human rights organizations are free to operate openly and without restrictions.

HEALTH

Health services, which rank among the poorest in Africa, are under the jurisdiction and supervision of the Ministry of Health and are provided to Africans free of charge. Approximately 80% of the population had access to health care services. As of 2004, it was estimated that there were fewer than two physicians 100,000 people. In 2000, 57% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 77% had adequate sanitation. Access to safe water and sanitation at times has been severely impeded by war.

The major health threats are malnutrition, malaria, tuberculosis, measles, dysentery, and bilharzia. Hookworm and schistosomiasis are widespread. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 14.20 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 900,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 84,000 deaths from AIDS in 2003. Malawi has taken an aggressive approach to AIDS prevention and allocates a substantial portion of its health budget on treatment.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 37.13 and 23.2 per 1,000 people. About 31% of married women were using contraceptives as of 2000. The infant mortality rate in 2005 was 96.14 per 1,000 live births. The major cause of infant death in Malawi is diarrheal disease. The maternal mortality rate was 580 per 100,000 live births. An estimated 48% of children under five years old were considered malnourished. Immunization rates for children up to one year old were: tuberculosis, 100%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 95%; polio, 94%; and measles, 87%. Life expectancy was 41.43 years in 2005.

HOUSING

About 90% of the population live in rural areas. The traditional dwelling, used by anywhere from 45–65% of the total population, is a single-family home made of mud brick walls and a thatched roof. There are some more permanent structures, which are made with concrete, stone, or burnt brick walls and iron sheet, concrete, or asbestos roofs. Most dwellings have two or three rooms and the average household size is about 4.3 people. In 1998, at least 86% of dwellings were owner occupied. Only about 2.5% of residences had access to indoor piped water. Most drinking water was taken from boreholes, unprotected wells, and/or rivers and streams. About 74% of the population (both urban and rural) used pit latrines. About 22% had no toilets at all. Only 4.9% of the population had access to electricity. Wood is typically used for cooking fuel and paraffin is used for lighting.

Government-built houses are either rented or sold. The Malawi Housing Corp. has also developed housing plots in order to relocate urban squatters.

EDUCATION

Control of education, including mission schools, is in the hands of the Ministry of Education. Attendance is compulsory for eight years at the primary level. Secondary education lasts for four years. The academic year runs from September to July.

As of 1999, 69% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school. Most children in remote rural areas do not attend school. In 2003, secondary school enrollment was about 29% of age-eligible students. It is estimated that about 71% of all students complete their primary education. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 70:1 in 2003; the ratio for secondary school was about 46:1.

The University of Malawi, inaugurated at Zomba on 6 October 1965, has four constituent colleges at Zomba, Lilongwe, and Blantyre. A new medical school was established in Blantyre. In 2003, less than 1% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 64.1%, with 74.9% for men and 54% for women.

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 6% of GDP, or 24.6% of total government expenditures.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

The Malawi National Library Service, founded in 1968, has more than 804,000 volumes and maintains a nationwide interloan system with headquarters in Lilongwe, regional branches in Blantyre, Mulanje, Luchenza, Mzuzu and Karonga, and a number of smaller rural libraries and library centers. The largest library is that of the University of Malawi (375,000 volumes). The US Information Agency maintains a small library in Lilongwe, and the British Council has libraries in Blantyre and in the capital. The National Archives are in Zomba and contain 40,000 volumes.

The Museum of Malawi (1959), in Blantyre, has a collection displaying the nation's archaeology, history, and ethnography. The Cultural & Museum Center Karonga serves as a museum of natural history, including dinosaur fossils and other prehistoric remains. Other museums include the Lake Malawi Museum in Mangochi and a regional museum in Mzuzu. There is also a postal museum in Namaka housed in a traditional postal carrier's rest hut.

MEDIA

In 2003, there were an estimated eight mainline telephones for every 1,000 people; about 17,400 people were on a waiting list for telephone service installation. The same year, there were approximately 13 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.

Radio broadcasting services were provided in English and Chichewa by the state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corp. over two stations in 2004. The same year, there were 14 private FM stations with limited coverage, including 6 religious stations. State-owned Television Malawi was he only national television broadcaster. In 2003, there were an estimated 499 radios and 4 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were 1.5 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 3 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There was one secure Internet server in the country in 2004.

The Daily Times, published in English in Blantyre, appears Monday through Friday and had a circulation of 22,000 in 2002. The other major daily publications were Computer Monitor, Michiru Sun, The Enquirer, and U.D.F. News (United Democratic Front). The Malawi News, a weekly, had a circulation of 30,000. Other weeklies include The Independent, The Nation, and The New Express.

Though previously strictly controlled by the government, the media enjoy new constitutional provisions suspending censorship powers. The government is said to respect these new provisions.

ORGANIZATIONS

The Malawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry has its headquarters at Blantyre. A branch of the British Medical Association has been organized in Zomba. In the larger towns, musical societies and theater clubs have been established.

The League of Malawi Women and the League of Malawi Youth are active. Other national youth organizations include the Catholic Students Community of Malawi, Malawi Young Pioneers, Student Alliance for Rural Development, and the Student Christian Organization of Malawi. A variety of sports associations are also active.

Service clubs include the Rotary, Lions Clubs, and the British Empire Service League. Some social welfare and economic development groups have organized under the umbrella of the Council for Nongovernmental Organizations in Malawi, established in 1985. International organizations with active chapters include the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, UNICEF, and the Red Cross.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

Tourist facilities are improving with the development of Malawi. The major cities and resorts are not as limited as the smaller, rural areas. The main tourist attraction in Malawi is Lake Malawi; the visitor is well served there by hotels and recreational facilities. There are also eight-day excursions around the lake available. Game parks, Mt. Mulanje, and Mt. Zomba also attract the tourist trade.

In 2003, there were 420,911 tourists who arrived in Malawi, almost 21% of whom came from Mozambique. Tourist receipts totaled $43 million that year. Hotel rooms numbered 59,396 with 63,585 beds and an occupancy rate of 27% in 2002. The average length of stay was eight nights. A passport, proof of sufficient funds, and onward/return ticket are required for entry into Malawi. Upon entry, a 30-day visa is issued. Proof of vaccination against yellow fever is required for travelers from infected areas.

In 2004, the US Department of State estimated the daily cost of staying in Mangochi at $224; in Lilongwe, $180; and in Blantyre, $167.

FAMOUS MALAWIANS

The dominant historic political figure is Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1906–1997). After a long period of medical practice in England, and a brief one in Ghana, he returned to Nyasaland in 1958 to lead the Malawi Congress Party. Following the declaration of a state of emergency, Banda was detained from March 1959 to April 1960. He became Malawi's first prime minister in 1963, and in 1966 he became Malawi's first president; he was named president for life in 1971 and ruled without interruption until ousted in a 1994 election mandated by constitutional reform. Bakili Muluzi (b.1943) was president from 1994–2004. Bingu wa Mutharika (b.1934) won a disputed election to become president in 2004.

DEPENDENCIES

Malawi has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Decalo, Samuel. The Stable Minority: Civilian Rule in Africa, 1960–1990. Gainesville, Fla.: FAP Books, 1998.

Democracy and Political Change in Sub-Saharan Africa. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Else, David. Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. Oakland, Calif.: Lonely Planet, 1997.

Harmon, Daniel E. Southeast Africa: 1880 to the Present: Reclaiming a Region of Natural Wealth. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002.

Kalinga, Owen J. M. and Cynthia A. Crosby. Historical Dictionary of Malawi. 3rd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001.

McElrath, Karen (ed.). HIV and AIDS: A Global View. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Spring, Anita. Agricultural Development and Gender Issues in Malawi. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, Inc., 1995.

Zeilig, Leo and David Seddon. A Political and Economic Dictionary of Africa. Philadelphia: Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2005.

MALAWI

Republic of Malawi

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

LOCATION AND SIZE.

Malawi is located in southeast Africa, landlocked between Mozambique to the east and south, Zambia to the west, and Tanzania to the north. Malawi is separated from Mozambique and Tanzania to a large extent by Lake Malawi, which lies on the country's eastern edge. The immense extent of this lake (the third largest in Africa), which accounts for 20 percent of Malawi's 118,480 square kilometers (45,745 square miles) of total area, means that despite Malawi's inland location, the country has a sizeable coastal area.

Slightly smaller than Pennsylvania in area, Malawi's long, narrow shape was determined in part by the elongated plateau on which it sits and in part by British imperial whim. Mt. Sipitwa, the country's highest point, reaches 9,850 feet. The capital of Malawi is Lilongwe (pop. 442,000, 1999 est.); other urban centers include Blantyre (pop. 486,000, 1999 est.) and Mzuzu (pop. 88,000, 1999 est.).

POPULATION.

A mid-2000 estimate of Malawi's population placed it at 10,385,849. Malawi's demographics, however, are complicated by the AIDS pandemic, which tends radically to skew its statistics. Hence the life expectancy at birth of the average Malawian is a very low 37.58 years. The proportion of the population under age 20 is 57 percent, and infant mortality runs to 122.28 deaths per 1,000, one of the worst in the world (the birth rate is 38.49 per 1,000). Despite a fertility rate of 5.33 children born per Malawian woman, population growth is only 1.61 percent per annum. Not all of this is attributable solely to AIDS, as disease and chronic malnutrition are also major causes of mortality. The scale of AIDS' impact can be understood, however, if Malawi's population figures are set against those, for example, of Madagascar, where the average lifespan is nearly 50 percent longer, the death rate is a mere third as high, and overall population growth is doubled. The United Nations estimated in 1999 that around 16 percent of all Malawians between the ages of 15 and 49 were HIV/AIDS infected. In the same year, the disease claimed 70,000 lives, with urban areas worst affected. The economic fall-out has been disastrous.

With 90 percent of Malawi's population living in rural areas, cities and towns have traditionally played a small part in the nation's life. This, however, is showing signs of changing, and between 1987 and 1998 the urban population grew by 4.7 percent.

Ethnically, Malawi is a tribal federation principally of Chewa, Tumbuka, Yao, and Ngoni peoples, and to a lesser extent Nyanja, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, and Ngonde tribes, as well as various Asian and European groups. The national language (besides English) is Chichewa, with Chitumbuka predominating in the north. Religiously, 55 percent are Protestant, 20 percent Roman Catholic, 20 percent Muslim, with the remainder holding various indigenous beliefs.

OVERVIEW OF ECONOMY

One of the least developed countries in the world, Malawi remains fundamentally dependent on international aid, of which it receives about US$400 million annually. Attempts to turn its economy towards greater productivity and self-sufficiency face heavy obstacles at almost every level. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are working with the Malawian government to improve economic growth through a program of privatization and other reforms. But progress will be difficult, due to a variety of problems that plague the country, including inadequate infrastructure and Malawi's dependence on fuel sources such as coal and firewood.

An overwhelmingly agrarian (farm-based) nation, at 44 people per square mile Malawi is also one Africa's most densely populated countries, and pressure to use available land is intense. This has not only led to serious deforestation as new land has been cleared for cultivation, but ever greater subdivision of existing farming plots. In 1986-87 the World Bank calculated 55 percent of rural households survived on less than 1 hectare of land; by 1993, estimates put this number at 78 percent. The consequences have included decreasing incomes and long-term environmental degradation. Since most of Malawi's agricultural income comes from its independent smallholders (individual farmers), this poses a serious problem.

Over-dependence on agriculture also leaves Malawi exposed to the region's erratic rainfall pattern, as well as to fluctuating world markets. Malawi's primary cash crop is tobacco, and without diversification, it will continue to be exposed to changes in the world tobacco market. Growth has therefore been irregular as Malawi's economic fortunes have bounced up and down. Although hitting annual GDP growth levels as high as 10 percent (1995), long-term growth has been considerably slower, averaging 3 percent between 1980 and 2000. Disciplined budget planning is difficult, and the resulting economic instability deters foreign and private-sector investment. Further, the country faces a substantial foreign debt , which continues to hold back efforts at prioritizing infrastructure improvements that are required for Malawi to achieve the 6 percent growth that, according to World Bank estimates, is necessary if poverty levels are to be reduced.

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND TAXATION

Malawi became a British colony as the protectorate of Nyasaland in 1891. In 1964, after a decade of concerted anti-colonial activity, Malawi was granted its independence. Its prime minister at that time, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, remained the country's leader for the next 30 years, becoming successively president (1966) and president-for-life (1970), as his rule shifted from benign despotism (an authoritarian leader who respects human rights and rules in the best interests of his or her people) to dictatorial repression. Mounting political pressure in the late 1980s—leading to widespread strikes, demonstrations, and riots in 1992—eventually forced the 89 year-old president to concede elections in 1994, in which he was defeated by Bakili Muluzi, leader of the free-market-promoting United Democratic Front.

The transition from Banda's one-party autocracy to a multi-party democracy has been relatively smooth. Under the U.S.-style 1994 constitution, the president still wields considerable power, appointing the 28-member cabinet and senior judges, but he is kept in check by an independent judiciary and legislature. The presidency and the 193 seats of the National Assembly are decided by direct popular election, and all Malawians over 18 years of age have the right to vote. The basic soundness of the new system was affirmed in 1999 when Malawi successfully conducted its second-ever elections (in which Bakili Muluzi was re-elected).

Nevertheless, Banda's long rule and his authoritarian and eccentric style of government have left a burdensome legacy. Challenges facing Malawi's new government have been to repair the country's strained diplomatic relations with its neighbors (Banda was ostracized in the region for his long-standing support of South African apartheid—a political and economic system based on the dominance of whites at the expense of African blacks), to restore the badly rundown economy, and to foster confidence in the political system, corrupted by years of Banda intrigue and cronyism. Progress has been slow. Corruption scandals are becoming more frequent, not only undermining the public's faith in democracy, but alienating Malawi's foreign donors.

The Muluzi government, however, is committed to the program of structural reform drawn up by the World Bank and the IMF, which is aimed at poverty reduction and economic growth. In addition to a renewed emphasis on education and health, the program includes tightening fiscal management, opening up domestic markets, privatizing public utilities, reducing the civil service (non-miltary government organizations), and improving conditions and opportunities for smallholder farmers by liberalizing the agricultural sector.

Tax reform has also been targeted, with more emphasis placed on direct taxation , in keeping with Malawi's traditional sources of revenue— duties , excises, and levies . But in an economy in which so much of the population lives at subsistence level, and in which so much trade is conducted informally, tapping this source of revenue is very difficult, and the burden of the new tougher stance has tended to fall disproportionately on the private sector.

INFRASTRUCTURE, POWER, AND COMMUNICATIONS

Malawi's infrastructure is in urgent need of attention. Its road and rail networks are inadequate both in their quality and extent, a problem made more serious by the country's reliance on land transport to compensate for its lack of sea access. While the road system has been expanded by 44 percent since independence in 1964, Malawi's population in the same period has doubled; of its 28,394 kilometers (17,647 miles) of road, only 5,833 kilometers (3,265 miles) are paved (18.5 percent). The poor condition of the roads has contributed to Malawi having one of the worst road accident rates in the world— despite its very low car-to-person ratio of 2 per 1,000. Rail, too, is in considerable disrepair, having been very badly affected by Mozambique's long civil war in the 1980s and 1990s, which closed off Malawi's access to the Indian Ocean ports of Nacala and Beira, once the distribution hubs of 95 percent of all Malawian trade. Starved of this traffic, on which it relied heavily, Malawi's national railroad was forced into bankruptcy in 1993. However, the company's sale in 1999 to a U.S.-African consortium is aimed at bringing new investment and reviving services. Malawi has 788 kilometers (490 miles) of track, all of which is narrow gauge.

Malawi has 2 international airports—at Lilongwe and Blantyre—and is served by a variety of international carriers. Malawi has 44 total airports, only 5 of which

have paved runways. Between 100,000 and 200,000 passengers typically pass through each airport annually. The government plans to privatize Air Malawi and the introduction of a second airline is also being discussed.

Malawi's principal source of energy—providing an estimated 90 percent of all its energy needs—is wood fuel (firewood and charcoal), about 44 percent of which comes from non-sustainable sources. Demand is growing too, at a rate of some 6 percent per year, placing severe pressure on Malawi's already depleted forests. Electricity generation comes mostly from the 4 hydro-electric power stations on the Shire River begun in 1989. But irregular water flow on the river, especially in the dry season, and problems with silting (build up of sediment) often make power supplies unreliable, a problem particularly damaging to industry. Coal is imported to supplement local production, which because of under-investment is mined below capacity. All petroleum stocks are imported.

Telecommunications is also an underdeveloped sector, with a mere 45,000 landlines, or 1 for every 230 Malawians. There are hopes, however, to triple the number of lines by 2005 with the proceeds of the sale of the state-owned Malawi Telecom in 2001. A cellular system was launched in 1996, and the licensing of more networks is planned. Malawi had 1 Internet service provider as of 1999.

ECONOMIC SECTORS

Despite government hopes to expand the country's economic base, Malawi remains overwhelmingly dependent on agriculture, especially its primary cash crop, tobacco. But international movements to discourage cigarette smoking can only hurt this industry further, and its viability as a long-term vehicle of growth is unclear. In 1999 agriculture supplied 38 percent of GDP. Tourism, mining, and manufacturing have also been prioritized, but infrastructure problems make development difficult. Nevertheless, industry accounts for 19.2 percent of GDP (14 percent of this in manufacturing), and services 42.8 percent.

AGRICULTURE

A lush climate and rich soil make Malawi well suited for agriculture, which is central to the country's economy and national life, occupying 86 percent of its workforce, and making up 38 percent of its GDP and 90 percent of its export earnings.

The main staple crop is maize, grown by smallholder farmers mostly at the subsistence level. Production varies, and depending on climate conditions, maize may be imported or exported. Sorghum, millet, pulses, root crops, and fruit are also grown. Another staple, as well as an important source of protein, is fish from Lake Malawi. The fishing industry accounts for about 200,000 jobs, but problems with pollution and over-fishing threaten to reduce yields.

Malawi's commercial farming sector is concentrated on large estates in the south and around Lilongwe. Its main product is tobacco, which typically accounts for between 50 percent and 70 percent of Malawi's export earnings. Formerly held back by government price controls and grower regulations, the liberalization of the industry in the 1990s has seen steady increases in profits for growers and a sharp rise in smallholder tobacco production, making Malawi one of the leading tobacco producers in the world. Nevertheless, the industry as a whole has been hard hit by the drop in world tobacco prices, which has cut tobacco export revenues from US$332 million in 1998 to US$218 million in 2000. As a consequence, Malawi's growers are being encouraged to concentrate on other traditional cash crops, such as tea and sugar, or diversify into new crops, such as paprika, macadamia, citrus fruits, vegetables, and cut flowers. Tea is Malawi's second most important cash crop, and Malawi is Africa's second largest producer of it. In 2000 tea accounted for about 10 percent of exports, or about US$44 million. Sugar is also significant, and made up about 6 percent of exports, or US$27 million.

INDUSTRY

Although a small and under-developed sector in Malawi, industry is nevertheless an important contributor to the country's GDP. But the burdens it struggles under are substantial. Hampered by the variability of the agricultural sector on which it is based, high transport costs, a small domestic market, and a poorly skilled work-force increasingly undermined by HIV/AIDS, Malawi's industries must also contend with a dependence on imported resources. This dependence largely robs the industrial sector of any benefit from successive depreciations of the kwacha and means Malawi's goods, despite low wage rates, often do not fare well against regional competitors.

The majority of Malawi's industrial activity (85 percent) comes from manufacturing, a sector that in 2000 generated around 14 percent of GDP. Malawian manufacturing is carried out by about 100 companies involved in agricultural processing, textiles, clothing, and footwear production. The concentration of this activity is another legacy of Hastings Banda's accumulation of wealth and power during the 30 years of his rule. The Press Corporation Limited (PCL), founded by Banda, is an example of how this legacy continues to distort Malawi's economic structure. A hugely diverse syndicate of brewing, clothing, oil, pharmaceutical, banking, and agricultural concerns with a total revenue equivalent to about 10 percent of GDP, PCL's monopolies in many industries further undermine competitiveness. Nationalized in 1997, the company is scheduled for dismantling and sale, although few of its assets are likely to attract the necessary interest.

Mining remains small-scale, and Malawi has no precious metals or oil, but ruby mining began in the mid-1990s, with Malawi the only source of rubies in Africa. Malawi also has deposits of bauxite, asbestos, graphite, and uranium. After the establishment in 1985 of a government mines department and a national mining agency to explore the feasibility of exploiting various minerals, bauxite and titanium reserves in the south were singled out for development. Although the supporting infrastructure is weak, some foreign investment has been attracted.

SERVICES

TOURISM.

Malawi's ongoing battles against disease, poor sanitation, and infrastructure deficiency make it an unlikely tourist destination. And yet its tropical climate and scenic landscape have seen rapid gains in the industry, with visitor numbers climbing to 215,000 in 1999, a 20 percent increase from 1995. Although visitors do come from Europe and North America, most are South African and Zimbabwean, and most come for Lake Malawi. Efforts are being made to expand facilities and boost numbers, but without the injection of significant investment, there will be little impact. Negative publicity over the presence of the potentially fatal bilharzias bacteria in Lake Malawi and fears that the region may not be safe for travellers have also proved handicaps.

FINANCIAL SERVICES.

In addition to its central bank, the Reserve Bank of Malawi, Malawi has 5 commercial banks. Although newer operators have begun to extend services, the sector remains basic and highly limited, with the 2 largest banks having no foreign shareholders or strategic foreign links. Lack of competition has kept charges high and most lending tends to be to government agencies, to the exclusion of private borrowers. A stock exchange was founded in 1994, and by 2000, there were 8 companies listed on it. But its small size and the absence of a speculative trading culture have kept activity to a minimum, and the exchange has not proved a source of business financing.

RETAIL.

Because of Malawi's rural and subsistence-dominated economy, the purchasing power of most Malawians is minimal, hence retailing is sparse. Urban areas are better served, with a variety of small traders selling fabrics, shoes, paper and pens, and imported electrical equipment, and with a large contingent of informal street vendors. Most of the stores are operated by Malawi's minority Asian population, estimated to control of 30 percent of commercial activity.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Malawi's balance of trade has always been precarious. With 90 percent of its receipts coming from agricultural commodities, export accounts are highly sensitive to fluctuations in production levels and shifts in world market prices. Malawi is also vulnerable on its import side. The expense of freighting all of its imports overland is a continual drain (adding as much as 30

percent to the import bill), while droughts, which periodically force the government to mass-import basic foods, are a regular source of balance-of-trade shortfalls. Additional problems stem from Malawi's complete dependence on imported oil, which has caused particular difficulty as oil prices have risen. The net effect, despite government prioritization of a balanced budget, is a pattern of significant trade deficits. In 1999, however, the shortfall was only $2 million on exports of $510 million and imports of $512 million.

Of Malawi's exports in 1999, 15 percent went to South Africa, 9 percent each to the United States and Germany, and 7 percent to the Netherlands. Of Malawi's imports, 38 percent came from South Africa, 18 percent from Zimbabwe, 8 percent from Zambia, and 4 percent from Japan.

In 2000, Malawi joined 8 other African nations in the free-trade area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Having removed its 30 percent import duty on goods from those 8 countries, it plans to remove all trade barriers by 2004. Free movement of labor and residency is scheduled for 2014, with full monetary union and a common central bank by 2025.

MONEY

Malawi's heavy trade imbalance is the source of its consistently high deficits and mounting debt. By the end of 1999 Malawi's total external debt stood at US$2.6 billion, a rise of 86 percent from the previous decade. Servicing this debt cost Malawi US$105 million in 1999, cutting drastically into the government's available funds for social services and development, and further widening the budget and balance-of-payments gaps. The instability that such over-runs cause in the Malawian economy has seen the value of the kwacha tumble and inflation soar. Riding at 45 percent in 1999, inflation is expected to remain above 30 percent until mid-2001, dropping to a hoped-for 15 percent by 2002. The kwacha is also expected to stabilize after a long period of freefall

since its floating in 1994. From around MK15 per U.S. dollar in 1995, the rate dropped to MK43 in 1998 and MK80 in 2000; forecasts are for around for MK106 in 2002. Reducing the deficit and attacking the debt are top priorities for the government.

POVERTY AND WEALTH

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, its poverty severe and deeply-rooted. According to the 1998 census, 78 percent of the economically-active population were subsistence farmers . Even by African standards, the plight of these farmers is grave, with literacy low, access to water and sanitation poor, and disease and malnutrition endemic. Malawi's National Economic Council estimated in 2000 that 65.3 percent of Malawians were below the poverty line, "unable to meet their basic needs."

Yet Malawi also has pockets of considerable wealth. The Banda regime's policy in the 1970s and 1980s of large-scale agricultural and industrial development focused government resources on commercial enterprises. This consolidated the country's tiny political-entrepreneurial elite and further widened the gulf between it and Malawi's subsistence sector. Post-Banda politics are more open, but the political class remains small—President Muluzi, for example, was a former cabinet minister of Banda's—and recent corruption scandals suggest that patronage and favoritism are still inherent in the system.

Attempts to equalize the economic imbalance include the establishment the Land Reform Commission in 1996. The commission's report, issued in 1999, has recommended the replacement of freehold land ownership with 99-year leases, and the return of customary land from government control to tribal chiefs. A US$25 million land redistribution scheme was begun in 2001, which aims to resettle between 17,000 and 21,000 people on 14,000 hectares of land.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Malawi's workforce numbers around 3.5 million, but most of these are subsistence farmers. Given the informality of most employment, it is impossible even to estimate unemployment and underemployment rates in the country. The proportion of wage and salary earners is a low 14 percent, and threatens to fall further as civil service down-sizing and privatization lay-offs take effect.

Growth and job creation are severely hindered by poor standards of education and low literacy levels. Only 58 percent of the adult population is able to read and write, and only 4.5 percent of primary school children advance to secondary level, a figure low even by the standards of Malawi's neighbors. The Muluzi government is committed to improving education, but the massive increases in enrollments it has spurred (in particular by removing school fees in 1994) have swamped the schools and eroded educational quality. The result is a workforce poorly adapted to most industrial and manufacturing jobs, and unsuited even for certain types of commercial farming.

Disease is another significant problem, intensified by the over-loading of the health system by the HIV/AIDS crisis. In 1999-2000 government spending on health care accounted for 2.8 percent of GDP—or US$5 spent per Malawian—a level which was radically insufficient. Poor sanitation (only 45 percent of the population has access to clean water) and malnutrition are also fundamental problems, and until they can be properly addressed—which will only be done with foreign help—the productivity of the Malawian workforce will remain badly crippled.

COUNTRY HISTORY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1891. The British establish Malawi, then called Nyasaland, as a protectorate.

1953. Formation of the Central African Federation of Nyasaland and Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe, respectively).

1962. Hastings Kamuzu Banda becomes prime minister.

1963. Malawi leaves the Central African Federation.

1964. Malawi gains independence from Britain.

1966. Malawi becomes a republic.

1970. Hastings Banda declared president-for-life.

1994. A new democratic, pluralistic Malawian constitution enacted (based on the U.S. Constitution); multi-party elections held for the first time; Bakili Muzuli ousts Hastings Banda.

1999. Bakili Muzuli re-elected as president in second free elections.

FUTURE TRENDS

Although Malawi has made important strides towards political openness and economic reform, its future remains troubled. Progress has been painfully slow, marred by corruption scandals in the government, and punctuated by economic crises that have upset the reform process. Finding itself in a delicate situation, the government is obliged to impose tough austerity measures to satisfy donors, but knows that doing so will carry a heavy political cost at home. Regionally, too, the uncertainty that Malawi faces— with Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola in various stages of turmoil—will require careful negotiation. However, despite some voter disenchantment, the transition to democracy (still ongoing) has been smooth, and Malawi's political situation is secure. The government has established an Anti-Corruption Bureau to ensure tighter standards of accountability, and launched its "ten point" plan in 2000, promising more consistent adherence to reform measures. If agricultural yields continue to be good, if international aid donors continue to offer their support, and if the Malawian government continues to prioritize poverty reduction, Malawi's economic future holds some promise of hope.

DEPENDENCIES

Malawi has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Economist Intelligence Unit. Country Profile: Malawi. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2000.

Economist Intelligence Unit. Country Report: Malawi. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, January 2001.

Harrigan, J. From Dictatorship to Democracy. Aldershot, UnitedKingdom: Ashgate Publishing, 2000.

Lwanda, John Lloyd. Promises, Power Politics, and Poverty: Democratic Transition in Malawi (1961 to 1999). Glasgow, Scotland: Dudu Nsomba Publications, 1996.

Mkandawire, P. Thandika. Agriculture, Employment, and Poverty in Malawi. Geneva: International Labour Organization, 1999.

National Statistics Office of Malawi. The Web Site of Malawi Official Statistics. <http://www.nso.malawi.net>. Accessed March 2001.

Towards Vision 2020: United Nations Development Assistance for Poverty Eradication in Malawi. Lilongwe: The Framework, 1998.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook 2000. <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html>. Accessed July 2001.

U.S. Department of State. Country Commercial Guide, FY 2001: Malawi. <http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_guides/2001/africa/malawi_ccg2001.pdf>. Accessed March 2001.

World Bank Group. Countries: Malawi. <http://www.worldbank.org/afr/mw2.htm>. Accessed March 2001.

—Alexander Schubert

CAPITAL:

Lilongwe.

MONETARY UNIT:

Malawian kwacha (MK). One kwacha equals 100 tambala. Paper currency includes MK5, 10, 20, 50, and 100. Coins come in denominations of MK1, as well as 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 tambala.

CHIEF EXPORTS:

Tobacco, tea, sugar, cotton, coffee, peanuts, wood products.

CHIEF IMPORTS:

Food, petroleum products, semi-manufactures, consumer goods, transportation equipment.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT:

US$9.4 billion (1999 est.).

BALANCE OF TRADE:

Exports: US$510 million (1998 est.). Imports: US$512 million (1998 est.).

Malawi

Basic Data

Background & General Characteristics

Malawi is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The main towns are Blantyre (pop. 350,000), Lilongwe (250,000), Mzuzu (80,000) and Zomba (70,000). Malawi's economy is based on its agriculture, which accounts for 40 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 90 percent of export revenues and 90 percent of rural employment. Malawi gained its independence in 1964 from Great Britain and until 1993 the country remained under the authoritarian rule of Dr. Kamuzu Banda. In May 1994, President Banda lost the presidential election to the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Bakili Muluzi. Muluzi was re-elected in 1999 to serve another five-year term as president in the country's new democracy. Malawi has eleven ethnic groups, namely Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, and European. The official languages are English and Chichewa, but there are other regional dialects. The World Bank estimated that Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world.

From independence in 1964 to 1992, the only sources of news in Malawi were two newspapers (Daily Times and the weekly Malawi News ), put out by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and the Malawi News Agency. During that time, there was no constitutional provision for freedom of expression or of the press. The news media was pro-government and pro-Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the ruling party. Since 1994, the situation has changed. As of 2002, Malawi had 11 independent newspapers: two dailies—The Nation and Daily Times ; seven weeklies—New Vision, Weekly Chronicle, StatesmanMalawi NewsWeekend Nation,Enquirer, and UDF News ; one government-owned biweekly—Weekly News ; one privately owned weekly paper, The People's Eye ; and finally, The Mirror, published four times a week. There is no Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) in Malawi to certify the sizes of circulation for newspapers and magazines (Fumulani). Newspapers circulate in urban areas, which have about 10 percent of the country's population, while only a few trickle to the rural areas. The World Bank reports that daily newspaper circulation in Malawi is 3 per 1,000 people.

Economic Framework

After 30 years of one-party rule, Malawi became a multi-party democracy. The political transition was smooth in 1994, but the results of the presidential elections of July 1999, which returned Muluzi as president, have been continually contested, and genuine democratic processes have not yet fully taken root. The mass media is still government-controlled and trade unions have limited power.

Malawian economy prospered in the 1970s with the assistance of foreign aid and investment and grew at an annual rate of 6 percent. This growth did not, however, spur broad-based economic development. In 2002, agriculture remained the basis of Malawi's economy, contributing 40 percent of GDP and 90 percent of rural employment, while tobacco, the main cash crop, accounted for more than two-thirds of exports. Malawi's limited natural-resource base, combined with poor physical and financial infrastructure, a slow-moving bureaucracy and rising crime, has made it less able to attract foreign investment. Thus, Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 159 out of 162 countries on the United Nations' UNDP Human Development Index (HDI ). Malawi's poverty headcount (percent below poverty line) was 66 percent in 1998 (World Bank).

There is a willingness on the part of many journalists to disseminate information and offer the Malawian public an alternative but the media face a number of constraints such as the practical problems of sourcing newsprint; the costs of printing; the weak production infrastructure; unfavorable finance and tax arrangements; indifference or hostility to emerging media; lack of spare parts, supplies and advertising; and high taxes on equipment (Banda).

The economy itself is not stable: the inflation rate grew from 9 percent in 1997 to 30 percent in 2000, increasing printing costs. Newspapers were priced higher in order to recover these costs, ultimately two or even three times the original cost. The adverse effect was that many readers ended up not buying any newspaper. Another problem that affects media owners is the ever-increasing costs of newsprint. One newspaper owner explained that it was difficult for many newspapers to survive economically, but they managed probably because they had committed teams who made great sacrifices. At one time they relied on family members to assist with loans since local banks saw media as bad business. Only newspaper companies that have political backing and have enough financial resources remain in the media market.

Radio in Malawi, the most effective form of media, reaches nearly 90 percent of the population of 11.3 million. However the state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) dominates radio broadcasting. Newspapers only circulate in towns while a few trickle to the rural areas.

Press Laws

In 1994, Malawi said goodbye to dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda when Bakili Muluzi defeated Banda in the country's first democratic elections since its gaining independence from Britain in 1964. When Malawi became a multi-party democracy in 1994, the government guaranteed freedom of the press in the new constitution that superseded old laws restricting the press and now provided for freedom of speech and press. Although the new Malawian law maintained that "the press shall have the right to report and publish freely within Malawi and abroad, and to be accorded the fullest possible facilities for access to public information," practice did not always correspond to principle. Some restrictive laws have remained in place. The Official Secrets Act, for instance, makes it an offense to publish or communicate "any secret official code, work, sketch, plan, article or other document that could be useful to the enemy." Thus any journalist reporting on security issues runs the risk of committing offense. Further, it is an offense to write with the intent of wounding the religious feelings of others or to produce, print, publish, import, possess, or circulate matter that is considered obscene. Libel is also a crime in Malawi, and according to one Malawi Broadcasting Company worker, "A mere negative joke about the ruling party can cost someone a job here." Under the 1994 Communications Act, MBC was subject to the discretion of the controlling government minister regarding its content, and the minister was empowered to require MBC— or any private broadcaster—to broadcast certain materials or prohibit broadcasts that would be contrary to public interest.

In November, 1998, Parliament passed a new Communications Act, which for the first time established an independent regulatory body for broadcasting and telecommunications: the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA). This Act replaced the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Act and the Radio-communications Act of 1994. The newly established MACRA, an independent body, was charged with ensuring "reliable and affordable communication services" throughout the country. Under the bill, MACRA is responsible for protecting the interests of consumers, promoting open access to information, promoting competition, and providing training in communication services. It is also required to be independent and impartial while doing so. In regards to broadcast media, MACRA is also responsible for ensuring regular news programming on issues of public interest, supporting the democratic process through civic education, promoting a diverse range of national and local broadcasting and ensuring equal treatment in elections. The passing of a new communications bill gave a ray of hope to Malawian journalists.

Whether the bill has had any positive impact on the environment is still unknown, especially in regards to ensuring equal access and treatment among the political opposition. In March 2000, the UK-based organization Article 19 unveiled evidence of media manipulation during the 1999 presidential election campaign, identifying two misinformation teams that helped the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) party use illegal advertisements and fabricate news reports to ensure re-election. The report also contended that during the 1999 election campaign, the state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation ran live coverage of only President Muluzi's political rallies.

Censorship

During the Banda regime there was no such thing as press freedom; journalists lived in fear and constantly had to self-monitoring their writing. The government maintained control of the press with the Prohibited Publications Act. This Act allowed the government to ban any publication that it considered false or critical of Malawi (Banda). No outside journalists were allowed into the country at this time.

President Bakili Muluzi's government came into power promising an end to censorship and other human rights abuses. In 1995 a new constitution was put together after Banda was voted out of power by the United Democratic Front. The constitution had articles covering the following topics: 1) The protection of free expression; 2) The protection of free opinion; 3) The right to have access to information and 4) The freedom of the press. However, Muluzi's new democracy failed to ensure full press freedom. A 30-year legacy of self-censorship among journalists remained strong, and many preexisting laws remained in conflict with the new democratic provisions (Cooney). Government officials continued to issue negative statements against the media. Muluzi threatened through the overzealous offices of his press assistants to take several journalists to court on civil defamation charges.

Just before the 1999 elections and soon after that, there were incidents of open threats by politicians to dismiss from the civil service and statutory organizations any media practitioner deemed to be supporting the opposition or leaking information to the press. Journalists had been detained for short periods of time since the 1994 election. The editor of the main opposition newspaper, the Daily Times, was suspended in 2000 by the editor-in-chief and subsequently replaced by an acting editor more inclined to refrain from publishing articles critical of the government. The government continued to threaten and harass members of the media. The Daily News offices were raided by the army because of an article they published stating that AIDS percentages were higher in the army than the civilian population. On several occasions, politicians have threatened to take newspapers and their reporters to court. In late 2001, the Chronicle was fined a total of over US$37,000 by the courts in lawsuits, one involving a case in which the newspaper speculated on possible misconduct by a minister in his work.

State-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) is the most important medium for reaching the public. MBC programming was dominated by reporting on the activities of senior government figures and official government positions. Parties and groups opposed to the government largely were denied access to the broadcast media. MBC reporters were disciplined or fired for their reporting on opposition parties. News stories were pulled in midbroadcast and press conferences heavily edited to avoid dispersing politically sensitive material. MBC refused to air paid public announcements of labor union events.

State-Press Relations

There are now a number of private newspapers in Malawi, including some owned by political parties or openly affiliated with them. Publishers are not required to register with the state, although the Minister of Information does give accreditation to journalists. After 1994, for the first time, there were more than 20 newspapers in Malawi. Many independent newspapers that were established did not survive for more than two years. Major reasons cited by most publishers were poor financing, high newsprint and printing costs, poor skills in managing a newspaper business, and lack of trained newsroom staff. The following newspapers were short-lived: The New Voice, The WatchersThe MalawianMichiru SunCity Star , Financial ObserverWeekly MailNews TodayThe Herald, New ExpressDaily Monitor, and The Democrat, which collapsed in 1996. The Independent and The Star were phased out in 1999 because of lack of support from influential politicians. Four of the newspapers, The Malawi News and The Daily Times (both owned by the late president Banda's business empire), and the Nation and Weekend Nation (owned by Aleke Banda, the country's agriculture minister and first vice president of the ruling UDF) have remained the strongest players with a reasonable impact on the market. The Mirror (owned by Brown Mpinganjira, the country's foreign minister and prominent personality in Muluzi's UDF) has survived the turbulent times in the newspaper publishing industry.

Government has also stretched its arm to suffocate the private media by banning government advertising in the Daily Times and the Malawi News, Malawi's strongest opposition newspapers. Government is the biggest advertiser in the country, and advertising is the major source of revenue for all newspapers in the country. The ban occurred after the independents The Daily Times andMalawi News published critical coverage of government mismanagement and corruption. Journalists for private publications are said to face "constant harassment" from the state, and many journalists use pseudonyms (Banda).

Attitude toward Foreign Media

Under the dictatorship government of President Banda, no foreign journalists were allowed into the country at all. After the first democratic government in Malawi, foreign correspondents had free access to Malawian affairs. However, it would appear that supporters of the government are extremely sensitive to foreign reports about Malawi. Banning or jailing of foreign correspondents by the Malawian government has not been an issue. Visitors from the following countries are not required to have visas: United States, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Belgium. Visitors from the following countries are required to carry visas that expire after three months: Algeria, Angola, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Libya, Mexico, Morocco, Russia and other Eastern European Countries, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, and Zaire.

Foreign ownership of Malawian press is discouraged. Business may be conducted by individuals, partnerships, trusts, Malawian companies, branches of foreign companies, or through joint ventures, i.e., foreign and Malawi owned. A branch of a foreign company must have at least one Malawian resident as its director.

News Agencies

The oldest news agency, the Malawi News Agency (Mana), has its head office in Blantyre and offices in Mwanza and Mzuzu. The other news agencies, Daily Times and Weekly Malawi News, are both located in Blantyre. One foreign news bureau is located in Blantyre, Agence France-Presse (France).

The biggest printing press, Blantyre Print and Publishing, belongs to the business empire of the late president Kamuzu Banda. It prints both newspapers and books. This press has been in existence since 1962 when Banda bought it from the Paver brothers who sold Banda both the press and the Nyasaland Times (forerunner to theDaily Times ). The other major printing press in the newspaper sector is owned by Aleke Banda's Nation Publications, Ltd. Besides these, there is a chain of small printers dotted around the country, most of them owned by Indian business tycoons.

Broadcast Media

As part of the previous regime's control of the air-waves, television broadcasting was banned until 1994. Prior to 1994, Malawi had a single state-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) radio station, which covered the whole country, and a small private religious broadcaster that had a radius of 20 kilometers (km) from the capital, Lilongwe. Today Malawi has two government controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) radio stations, two commercial stations broadcasting in Blantyre, a community radio station in Monkey Bay, a private training-commercial radio station, three religious stations, and seven private radio stations. As of 1999, there were 2.6 million radios in Malawi. The state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) dominates the radio market with its two stations, transmitting in major population centers throughout the country. News coverage and editorial content clearly are pro-government. Radio in Malawi reaches nearly 90 percent of the 11.3 million people living there. Only one television station exists in the country, the state-controlled Television Malawi (TVM), which was established in 1998. Fewer than 100,000 of Malawi's 11.3 million people own television sets.

Malawi Broadcasting Corporation has a two-channel radio network currently broadcasting for 19 hours for Radio 1 and 24 hours for Radio 2 each day. Radio 1 broadcasts in English, Chichewa, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, and Tonga. Broadcasts are available on medium wave, short wave, and FM frequencies. Radio 2 broadcasts in English and Chichewa on FM stereo. The news coverage of these two stations is basically the same. The first private station, FM101, broadcasting to a radius of about 70 km from Blantyre, began operating in 1998. The second privately run station, Capital Radio 102.5, also based in Blantyre and reaching an area of 60 km around the city, took to the airwaves in 1999. The two stations concentrate mostly on musical and entertainment programs.

The government-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation still dominates radio broadcasting in Malawi. All new stations that wish to establish a radio station have to get a license from MACRA, which is responsible for regulating the provision of broadcasting, licensing of broadcasting providers and planning and allocating the use of the frequency spectrum. MACRA has the discretion to limit foreign ownership of companies receiving licenses and to limit the proportion of airtime devoted to advertising, provided that such limitations are applied equitably.

According to the new Communications Act of 1998, the MBC must operate without political bias and independent of any political party. It must support the democratic process, refrain from broadcasting any matter expressing its own opinion on current affairs, provide balanced election coverage, and have regard for the public interest. Licensing of private broadcasting before 1998 was the responsibility of the postmaster-general, who was a senior civil servant within the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Posts and Telecommunications. Since no criteria or procedure existed for licensing in broadcasting, in practice the minister had all the power. The new bill, by contrast, established clear criteria and a formal procedure for issuing licenses in all areas, as well as establishing an independent body to oversee them.

The single television station in the country, the state-controlled Television Malawi (TVM), is a public broadcaster, its goal to "foster unity and development [and to] provide civic education and information." The station broadcasts about 55 hours per week, with about 10 hours of local content. Because TVM has a limited number of cameras, local broadcasting is extremely difficult, and much of the station's material is obtained through relay (rebroadcasting) agreements with outside stations such as Deutsche Welle, BBC and TV Africa. Satellite TV, carrying such stations as CNN, BBC, and South Africa's Mnet, is available to those who can afford sets, decoders, and satellite dishes. Fewer than 100,000 of Malawi's 11 million people own television sets.

With no private companies to make commercials and only a small TV market, TVM has had many financial problems. In spite of that, however, TVM announced in March 2000 its plans to extend coverage to 100 percent of the country by year's end. As of 2002, however, the station reached only about 70 percent of the country.

Electronic News Media

MalawiNet, the main Internet Service Provider (ISP), was established in 1997 as the only commercial Internet Service Provider. MalawiNet is jointly owned by ComNet of USA (42 percent), Malawi Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (MPTC) (38 percent), and Bj Trust of Malawi (20 percent). The MPTC later liberalized the market, allowing private ISPs to obtain their own connections, either via MalawiNet's POPs in Lilongwe or Blantyre or via a direct international link from MPTC. At the end of 2001, Malawi had 8 ISPs. News organizations in Malawi cannot afford publishing through the Internet because of limited resources. Only The Nation has an Internet site that publishes their news: http://www.nationmalawi.com/.

Education & TRAINING

The Malawi Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, offers undergraduate studies in journalism. The Malawi Institute of Journalism, an affiliate of the University of Malawi, was established in 1996. The institute offers diploma and certificate courses in journalism. A number of private schools run by professional journalists were also opened in the late 1990s. Among these are Pen Point School of Journalism, Norman Communications Centre, and Grefa Communications.

Major media organizations and associations are the Journalists' Association of Malawi, the Malawi Media Women's Association, the Media Council of Malawi and a chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). The MAMWA has played a major role in attracting a female audience to radio. One of MAMWA's significant achievements is the Dzimwe Community Radio Station in Monkey-Bay District, which was licensed in 1997. The station covers a radius of 95 kms and reaches 3.2 million listeners. Mindful of the fact that most people within this community live below the poverty line and cannot afford radios and batteries, MAMWA asked them to form listening clubs in order to increase access to radio sets. Radio listeners clubs are set by women media professionals who organize rural women into groups that meet once a week to debate a theme that directly affects their lives. The discussions are recorded and presented to government officials, community authorities, and representatives of non-governmental organizations for replies that are also recorded. Discussions and replies are broadcasted by the Dzimwe Community Radio Station.

In May 2002, Malawi's largest daily newspaper, The Nation, underwrote a new national Young Sports Journalism Award as part of an initiative to identify and develop new sports writers. The competition is designed for practicing junior journalists but is also open to anyone who aspires to the field.

Summary

The autocratic, repressive Banda regime prior to 1994 crippled Malawi's media. The country's democratic government, voted into power in 1994, caused some exciting developments in the media industry between 1994 and the close of the century. From the single state-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), which covered the whole country, and a small private religious broadcaster with a radius of 20 km from the capital, Lilongwe, Malawi had as of 2002 two private stations based in Blantyre, a community radio station in Monkey Bay, and a second FM channel on MBC, called Radio 2. From two state owned newspapers in 1994, the country has experienced a bloom of new independent newspapers. The poor state of the Malawian economy and the deplorable attitude of most reporters and editors who refuse to stick to the ethics of the profession remain serious problems facing media development in Malawi. These are aggravated by the fact that most of the newspapers in the country, including the two dailies, are owned by politicians and lack independent editorial judgment and policies. Bakili Muluzi has improved things in the media, but there is still a hint of the autocratic system in the air especially in the manner with which the media are dealt. It is hoped that Malawi will move to a more independent broadcast media and greater autonomy for the MBC as a public broadcaster.

Significant Dates

• 1994: Malawi became a multi-party democracy, the first government guaranteed freedom of the press in the new democratic constitution.
• 1998: The state-controlled Television Malawi (TVM) was established.
• 1998: Parliament passed a new Communications Act, which for the first time established an independent regulatory body for broadcasting and telecommunications: the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA).

Bibliography

Banda, Zeria. "The Malawi News Media," Master's thesis, Ball State University, Indiana, 1998.

Cooney Brendan. Malawi Media Report. Grahamstown, South Africa: Rhodes University, 2001.

Reporters Without Borders. Malawi: Annual report 2002. Available from http://www.rsf.fr/.

USAID. USAID's Program in Malawi, 2002. Available from http://www.usaid.gov/country/afr/mw/.

World Bank. World Development Indicators, 2000. CDRom, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Gladys Mutangadura

Malawi A long, narrow, landlocked country running north to south in south-eastern Africa. Its eastern boundary includes much of Lake Malawi; Tanzania is to the north and Zambia to the west, while Mozambique almost encloses its southern half.

Physical

Malawi lies at the southern end of the Great Rift Valley. The Shire River falling from Lake Malawi is flanked by high ground until it enters swampland, with three smaller lakes. To the north the ground rises westward from the lake to plateaux.

Economy

The economy is mainly agricultural, exports being dominated by tobacco, sugar, and tea. Groundnuts, cotton, and maize are also grown. The only mineral resource is bauxite. Industrial development is being financed through foreign aid. Light industries include beer, cement, and cigarette manufacture. Electricity is generated mainly from hydroelectric sources.

History

The area has been inhabited since at least 8000 BC, and several kingdoms had risen and fallen before Malawi was first explored by the Portuguese in the 17th century. Slave-traders from Zanzibar raided the area frequently in the 1840s, and its desolation is described by LIVINGSTONE in 1859. In 1875 Scottish missionaries settled, and for a while governed parts of the country. Colonial administration was instituted when Sir H. H. Johnston proclaimed the Shire Highlands a British Protectorate in 1889. This became British Central Africa in 1891, then Nyasaland from 1907 until 1964. Unwillingly a member of the CENTRAL AFRICAN FEDERATION (1953–63), it gained independence (1964) as Malawi, with Dr Hastings BANDA as first Prime Minister. When the country became a republic in 1966, he became President and was proclaimed Life President in 1971. Regular elections were held to the National Assembly, but all candidates had to be members of the Malawi Congress Party. At its Convention in 1991 the party voted to retain the one-party system; but increasing opposition to this developed early in 1992, with the opposition leader Chakufwa Chilana arrested. There were violent riots, and all non-humanitarian aid from the West was suspended. In spite of protest, however, the one-party system continued for the general election of June 1992. Banda held a referendum in October 1992, following continued unrest, and the adoption of a multiparty political system was approved. A new constitution was adopted in 1993 and elections in 1994 were won by the United Democratic Front (UDF), with Bakili Muluzi becoming President.

Malawi The Republic of Malawi (Dziko la Malaŵi) since 1966, having become the independent state of Malawi in 1964. Previously Nyasaland (1907–64) and part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (also known as the Central African Federation) (1953–63); the British Central African Protectorate (1893–1907); and the Nyasaland Districts Protectorate when the British crown took control of the land along the western shore of Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi) in 1891 from the British South Africa Company. The country takes its name from the Maravi (in Portuguese, Malawi) people, whose empire stretched well beyond Malawi's present borders. Their name means ‘flames’ which may be taken from their habit of burning off dead grass during the dry season to prepare the land for cultivation. Nyasaland took its name from the Nyasa people who lived round Lake Nyasa, the Swahili nyasa itself meaning ‘lake’. It was thus due to a misunderstanding by David Livingstone (1813–73), the Scottish explorer, in 1859 that Lake Nyasa got its name.

Malawi. Former British central African protectorate of Nyasaland. The missionary explorer David Livingstone led the first group of Britons to the region in 1859 and after initial set-backs Nyasaland became a thriving centre of missionary activity. A British protectorate was declared in 1893. Early hopes of economic development rested upon the introduction of white settlers although cotton-growing by the indigenous people was later encouraged. Economic motives also led to the creation of the Central African Federation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland in 1953, but African opposition resulted in its dissolution in 1963. Nyasaland became independent as Malawi in 1964 and a republic in 1966.

Kenneth Ingham

MALAWI. A country of East Africa and member of the COMMONWEALTH. Languages: Chichewa, English (both official), and indigenous. The first European contact was in 1859, by the Scottish missionary David Livingstone. In 1878, the African Lakes Company was established; in 1883, Britain appointed a consul to the Kings and Chiefs of Central Africa; the territory became the British protectorate of Nyasaland, which became independent in 1964 as Malawi. English is the principal LINK LANGUAGE and the language of education from the fourth year of school, and is used in the media. See EAST AFRICAN ENGLISH.

Malawi Former British central African protectorate of Nyasaland. The missionary explorer David Livingstone led the first group of Britons to the region in 1859 and after initial set‐backs Nyasaland became a thriving centre of missionary activity. A British protectorate was declared in 1893. Nyasaland became independent as Malawi in 1964 and a republic in 1966.

Malawi

The people of Malawi belong mainly to various groups. About half belong to the Chewa and Nyanja groups, known collectively as Malawi (or Maravi), who arrived in Malawi before the nineteenth century.

Malawi •Myfanwy • Malawi • Zimbabwe •Anhui • Dewi •kiwi, peewee, weewee •Conwy, Goronwy •soliloquy, ventriloquy •colloquy • obloquy