Country Economic Overview

The Malawi economy is agro based with agriculture contributing 37% of the national GDP and employing 80% of the total workforce. Main exports are tobacco, tea, sugar, apparel and clothing, cotton, nuts, pulses, sawn & plied wood, natural rubber, coffee, spices, hides & skins and wooden furniture.

Major imports are petroleum products, fertilizer, manufactured goods, equipment and machinery. The economy has largely been import dependent and this has necessitated policy shift towards enhancing production and export. Malawi has to this effect, worked hard to improve the environment for doing business and macroeconomic stability which are the cornerstones for profitable investment.

The new national development plan, the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS II, 2011-2016), identifies nine key priority areas to spur sustainable growth and development and these are: Agriculture and Food Security; Energy, Industrial Development, Mining and Tourism; Transport Infrastructure and the Nsanje World Inland Port; Public Health, Sanitation, Malaria and HIV and AIDS Management; Integrated Rural Development; Education, Science and Technology; Green Belt Irrigation and Water development; Child and Youth development and Empowerment and; Climate Change Natural Resources and Environment Management.

Great reasons why you should consider Malawi your ideal investment destination:

*Business friendly economic environment
*Political stability
*A liberalized economy
*Preferential access to world markets under COMESA, SADC, LOME, AGOA
*Hard working, trainable, reliable and English speaking labour force
*Competitive investment incentives for export manufacturers and tourism industry
*Largely untapped natural resources
*Proximity to South Africa