The Malawi Government has, from April 19 to 27, been hosting the first ever Agriculture, Tourism and Mining (ATM) Promotion Week. Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu was recently quoted in the media as saying the week would feature the Agriculture Investment Conference, an International Tourism Expo, Mining Investment Forum and many other related activities.
And it appears that the implementation of the ATM Strategy has kickstarted in earnest. On Monday, we were given a feel of what the ATM Promotion Week has in stock for us when the Malawi leader, Lazarus Chakwera, opened the 2024 tobacco market season at Chinkhoma Auction Floors in Kasungu with a call for support to tobacco farmers. Despite facing a growing global anti-smoking campaign, tobacco remains Malawi’s lifeline as it rakes in about 13 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 60 percent of foreign earnings.
As a way of actualising the ATM Strategy, three weeks ago parliamentarians passed the K5.98 trillion 2024-25 budget revolving around three main pillars. These are Agriculture, Tourism and Mining. The three sectors are considered to be a panacea for reviving Malawi’s economy.
Agriculture has been allocated K497.75 billion, representing 8.3 percent of the total budget, while tourism and mining have been allocated a paltry K4.8 billion and K3.5 billion, respectively.
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The ATM Strategy is a brainchild of the President, driven by his desire to see the country attaining food security and creating jobs and wealth. If implemented to the letter, the strategy could turn around the fortunes of this great country.
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However, Malawians have, since the dawn of the multiparty democracy era, witnessed flagship projects of this nature being launched with pomp, only to see them abandoned or relegated to the background in the event another political party gets into government.
What immediately comes to my mind is the Buy Malawi Strategy (BMS), which was launched by former president Peter Mutharika on March 18 2016. It was launched with pomp, with those behind the initiative promising to take the economy to greater heights. According to framers of the BMS, in the short to medium terms, it was envisioned to reduce the import bill; assist in narrowing Malawi’s trade deficit; save foreign currency by directing it towards the procurement of more productive inputs such as equipment and machinery and important raw materials. But eight years down the line, it appears that the BMS only exists on paper, if media reports are anything to go by.
On the other hand, Mutharika also launched the much-touted community technical colleges (CTCs) programme at Ngara CTC in Karonga on March 20 2015, with a call to Malawians, especially youths, to change their mindset.
They were asked not to eye white collar jobs only, as entrepreneurship was another cash spinner. The programme aimed to ensure sustainable availability of manpower in crucial sectors of the economy by increasing access to technical and vocational training services. The programme would, among other things, see CTCs established in 28 districts. Coincidentally, the current administration came up with its own version – The National Youth Service (NYS) Programme, another brilliant initiative, so to speak.
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The programme was launched by Malawi’s leader, Chakwera, at Chikonde Primary School in Neno District on July19 2022 with a promise “to build a nation of youths who are productive and contribute to the country’s productivity”. Apparently reading between the lines, both CTCs and NYS programmes seem to have one ultimate goal – skilling and upskilling the youth in order to enhance employability among them. The CTCs programme appears to be operating on a ‘mute button’ as the NYP enjoys the prevailing political will.
You may also recall that, on October 23 2010, former President Bingu wa Mutharika launched his dream project – the Nsanje Inland Port, aimed to reduce the high cost of importing and exporting goods. But it appears the project is a closed chapter despite substantial funds being invested in it. The list goes on.
It is now fashionable that once every political party is ushered into government, it comes up with its own flagship projects based on its manifesto. In the process, the political party in government comes up with its own implementation strategies. Nothing wrong with this; strategies are never static. Even corporate entities review their strategic plans periodically in response to prevailing circumstances.
Unfortunately, this ‘lozani zanu’ [point out what you have done] mantra has made matters worse. The belief is that every political party must come up with its own development agenda. The result is that most campaign-driven programmes appear to lack that element of continuity and some of them may be ‘pressure cooked’ to ensure that a party has something to show during the next campaign period. Ultimately–with a few exceptions–any governing political party hardly has appetite to sustain projects initiated by another party regardless of how much resources were invested in it.
All I am saying it that this tendency of abandoning development programmes every time a new political party gets into government has not done justice to sustainable socio-economic development of the country. Besides, this may not reflect well on the image and reputation of the country. Sadly, it is the taxpayer who bears the brunt of such practices.
