Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism has expressed optimism that the development and roll out of the Malawi National Single Window, a trade facilitation system, will help reduce cases of smuggling in the country.
The single window is a digital platform that is designed to simplify and harmonise how traders submit applications for import, export and transit licences and permits as it is serving as a single online entry point.
Speaking in Mzuzu City on Friday, when Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) officers and clearing agents were sensitised to issues related to the system, ministry’s spokesperson Patrick Botha said, traditionally, traders had to physically visit multiple government departments to obtain approvals.
Botha said, with the new system, it would only take less than three days from over 35 days to get the required documents.
“We want to ensure that formal trade is attractive. You know, some people were smuggling goods into or outside the country not necessarily because they wanted to but because they were running away from the tedious long process. As you know, time is money,” he said.
- Advertisement -
One of the officers, Vitumbiko Tembo, who is the team leader of the Flexible Anti-smuggling Team at the Mzuzu Regional Office, said smuggling distorted legitimate trade, such that trade facilitation becomes difficult.
So far, according to the ministry, about seven government agencies are already connected to the platform, with an additional 14 ministries, departments and agencies expected to integrate to the system by December 2025.
The Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism is leading the national initiative, with support from the World Bank through the Southern Africa Trade and Connectivity Project.
