Goodall Gondwe, a distinguished economic genius that glanced Motherland Malawi
A venerable ODE by Don Consultancy Group Chief Economist, Chifipa Mhango.
Honourable Goodall Gondwe, the ex-Minister of Finance of Malawi was a distinguished Economic genius that glanced mother land Malawi with his extensive knowledge and practical experience on economic matters.
The news of the passing of Gondwe is sad for the nation of Malawi and the Economist world in general. I have vivid memories of the late Gondwe on two fronts, one on his contribution and leadership in reviving the Economy of Malawi, especially during the period June 2004 to December 2009.
I have also got a childhood memory of him as a jovial Uncle to family friends of ours, as we lived in Namiwawa suburb of Malawi in the early 1980s that I will share as a parting shot.
Gondwe’s leadership as Minister of Finance in the period June 2004 to December 2009 demonstrated remarkable progress on the economy of Malawi.
A high-level glance on the data will demonstrate that there was price stability in the Malawi economy as reflected in inflation rate data, in which Inflation rate moved from a high level of 11.3%, to a prolonged stability of below 10% from January 2007, to reaching a lowest level of 7.6% in December 2009.
During the same period, food inflation also took a similar trend, to reaching 6.6% in December 2009, as observed from Reserve Bank of Malawi database.
The Reserve Bank of Malawi, as a key institution under the Finance Ministry, was also outstanding in its contribution towards Monetary policy as demonstrated in inflation rate data, that the key Policy lending rate moved from 35% in May 2004 down to 15% by December 2009 as reflected in Reserve Bank of Malawi data.
The key measure of economic stability, which is the currency movements, despite the challenges of Malawi being an importing economy, hence less generation of foreign earnings, the Malawi Kwacha was also within its economic trajectory range, thus moving from MK109.40 against the USA Dollar in May 2004 to Mk141.50 by December 2009, with stability being restored from there, as the economy took shape, as reflected in Trading Economics data and other sources.
Key economic data of the Malawi economy such as Fiscal position also started to improve due to the discipline that was restored in managing government expenditure, to which the focus was more on productive expenditure, with infrastructure development as a key component towards driving economic transformation of the country.
During the stated period in review, Malawi also experienced improvement in Gross Fixed Investment share to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to levels above 25%, which is rare for an African economy.
Indeed, the country faced challenges, however, managing the challenges is what distinguished the late Gondwe’s contribution to transforming the Malawi economy during the period stated, and is summed up further in overall GDP numbers.
The Malawi economy’s GDP growth rate moved from 5.4% in 2004 to 8.9% in 2009, to which the country’s average annual growth rate was 6.7%, based on National Statistics data.
The lessons that can be drawn from the Gondwe leadership as reflected in economic data is that, where there is political will and commitment, nothing is impossible. The management of any country’s economy requires discipline, dedication, knowledge on its functioning and linkages to each economic variable, to which the late Distinguished Economic genius had practical exposure.
My childhood memory was in the early 1980s while he was visiting the family of his late sister that lived within our neighbourhood of Namiwawa, also reflects his jovial side in connecting with children. As usual after school we would visit each other’s houses to play.
This one afternoon, the late Gondwe, fondly called ‘aMalume, was watching us play, seated relaxed around the balcony (veranda), during one of his visits from the USA. He then called us to offer some sweets, but in his usual intellectual jovial mood, he first told us that he will present us the sweets one by one, after getting the mental arithmetic quiz right.
It was an interesting experience from ‘aMalume’. However, when one reflects, there was a lesson: “Work hard in school to achieve what the world offers.” Indeed, we got the sweets in the end.
I had a rare moment in 2016 when we chatted over the phone, and reminded him of this story, to which he burst into laughter.
Gondwe’s legacy in the economic field is the one that Malawi as a nation should be proud of and celebrated. May His Soul Rest in Eternal Peace.
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