Industry laments rising production cost
The Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has said cost of production has remained elevated in the country in recent past due to energy woes rocking the country, among other factors.
MCCCI Chief Executive Officer, Chancellor Kaferapanjira, said the chamber conducted a study recently which revealed that production in most businesses has declined by over 50 percent.
“The companies had tried to make up for the loss by buying generators and that pushed the price of energy by threefold meaning that if a company was paying K10 million in electricity bills, it is now spending K30 million for energy and that has not changed.
“The current situation has become as a shock because government had said they had worked on the problem,” Kaferapanjira said.
For instance, Chibuku Products Limited said it has been hit hard by the prevailing energy woes.
Chibuku Products Limited Business Development and Corporate Affairs Manager, Gloria Zimba, said the firm is spending over K45 million monthly on diesel generators.
“We have suffered quite a lot because at times, we have to run on diesel generators,” Zimba said.
