Chief Executive Madinga (left) moderates the panel discussion as Ministers Agriculture and Tourism Kawale and Kamtukule and Deputy RBM Governor Kissu Simwaka follow
* Held recently in Lilongwe under the theme; ‘Towards Economic Recovery and Growth by Bringing the ATMM Strategy to Life’
* Delegates acknowledged the urgency of fast-tracking several economic reforms to catch up with development targets
* The forum explored how the ATMM strategy could be applied to address perennial macroeconomic challenges
By Duncan Mlanjira
Key stakeholders who attended Standard Bank Plc’s recent round-table dialogue — The Growth Conversations — held in Lilongwe, have urged speedy action to fix the country’s ailing economy in the first 100 days after the September 16, 2025 elections.
Advertisement
The call is contained in a ‘White Paper’ released today by Standard Bank Plc following the multi-stakeholder round-table dialogue held under the theme; ‘Towards Economic Recovery and Growth by Bringing the ATMM Strategy to Life’.
The Growth Conversations round table series are a dialogue platform convened by Standard Bank Plc and it was attended by senior level representatives from government, including Ministers; Sam Kawale (Agriculture) and Vera Kamtukule (Tourism).
Also present was Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Deputy Governor, Kissu Simwaka, other regulatory bodies, donors, United Nations, the private sector — where the stakeholders “agreed on a raft of recommendations requiring urgent implementation to reverse economic decline.
“Delegates acknowledged the urgency of fast-tracking several economic reforms to catch up with development targets,” says the White Paper. “The forum explored how the ATMM — agriculture, tourism, mining & manufacturing strategy — could be applied to address perennial macroeconomic challenges.”
The paper lists addressing shortages in food, forex and fuel, finalising debt restructuring, tightening expenditures, concluding mining development agreements, rebalancing agriculture spending and implementing an accelerator program for the first implementation phase of MW2063 national vision — “as the key actions that need to be implemented immediately”.
During the forum, commercial banks were challenged to increase funding towards the real sector comprising agriculture, tourism, mining and manufacturing which together make up the government’s ATMM strategy.
The White Paper said a joint analysis by the Economics Association of Malawi (ECAMA) and the National Planning Commission (NPC) showed that little funding was going towards the ATMM strategy sectors and challenged both government and commercial banks to reprioritize their focus.
“Banks are challenged to increase credit to the private sector where the key ATMM players are, as opposed to the current scenario where most credit is going to government.
“For its part, the government must clearly identify funding needs for ATMM sectors and position them for investment,” reads the paper.
During the round table discussion, Agriculture Minister Kawale cited reduction of agricultural input programme (AIP) expenditure by 67%, de-risking of agriculture by increasing irrigation and insurance, and financing smallholder farmers through National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) to prepare them to transition into the mega farm initiative, as some of the reforms underway.
Agriculture Minister Kawale
Tourism Minister Kamtukule told the round-table that key reforms in her sector include establishment of the Tourism Council, a coordinating unit to drive national tourism development; enactment of the 2025 Tourism Act replacing the 1968 Act; a blueprint to upgrade Malawi Institute of Tourism into a college; Club Makokola in Mangochi into international airport, and the Brand Malawi project, which aims to integrate tourism marketing.
Convenor of the round table, Standard Bank Chief Executive, Phillip Madinga reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to continue leading in dialogue aimed at facilitating economic recovery in line with the bank’s purpose to drive growth.
“These conversations are a catalyst for action, as what we agree in this forum gets followed through with tangible results,” he said. “Since 2022, we have seen some reforms gaining traction after their tabling on this platform, and this third edition of Growth Conversations builds on that progress.”
Madinga, who is also president of Bankers Association of Malawi (BAM), described the country’s macroeconomic situation as being at a crossroads, with both risk and opportunity clearly visible.
He cited Malawi’s MW2063 vision — its First 10-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1), and the ATMM strategy — as key opportunity strands. However, he also highlighted economic uncertainty characterised by food-driven inflation, forex shortages, and rising debt as major downsides.
The dialogue, which included a panel discussion featuring the two Cabinet Ministers and RBM Deputy Governor, stressed the need for cohesion and collaboration amongst key stakeholders.
Just last week, South Africa’s Don Consultancy Group (DCG) Chief Economist, Chifipa Mhango in a press statement, emphasising that leaders who will take over the Malawi government administration after the September 16 elections should effectively address the structural challenges facing the country’s economy.
Revered Chief Economist Chifipa Mhango
He stressed that for that to happen “it will need a strong political will to deliver, supported by a merit based appointment approach into key positions” in the statement he copied to Minister of Finance & Economic Affairs, Minister of Trade & Industry, RBM Governor, the Deputy Governor and the country’s political party leadership; https://www.maraviexpress.com/malawi-needs-strong-political-will-supported-by-merit-based-appointment-approach-to-effectively-addressing-structural-challenges-of-the-economy-dcg-chief-economist-chifipa-mhango/.
Mhango, who is DCG’s director of economic research & strategy, observed that “Malawi is at a crossroad in which the choice is either a path towards continued destruction or economic prosperity — to which the electorate has a key decision to make in the coming September 16 elections”.
He quoted latest data sourced from various institutions, including the RBM, that points to a country “facing significant structural challenges with a heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture, macroeconomic instability and a challenging business environment”.
Reserve Bank of Malawi
“Malawi continues to be on a path of a narrow export base, inadequate infrastructure to support economic development as well as limited access to resources.”
The Chief Economist further indicated that “a large portion of Malawi’s population continues to depend on agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to climate change and weather patterns”.
“This dependence has led to food insecurity and escalating poverty levels when harvests are poor. This has been an on-going trend in Malawi, and at times used as a scapegoat against lack of delivery on economic promises made during election campaigns.
Advertisement
“The economic landscape in Malawi has been characterised with fiscal slippages, governance failures, and high public debt contributing to macroeconomic instability.
“This instability has undermined economic growth and at large, discouraged investment into the Malawi economy,” observes Mhango, adding that coupled with the above, “Malawi has continued to have a very weak business environment, with elements of high corruption, poor infrastructure (water, energy, roads, transport, and ICT), and limited access to finance, making it difficult for businesses to thrive — hence limiting economic development.
“Unless there is more diversification of the export basket, Malawi economy will also continue to be vulnerable to price fluctuations on its current export products in the global market.”
