Minister Mussa asks media houses and companies to invest in business
Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Henry Mussa on Friday requested private media houses and companies in Malawi to invest more money in their businesses for them to make more profits.
Mussa made the request when he visited Airtel Malawi company headquarters and some media houses such as Galaxy Radio and Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) offices in Lilongwe.
The minister said some private media organisations and companies in the country have challenges of business investment capital that lead them to fall in the industry.
“As a ministry, we encourage them to invest more money for them to perform better, remain in the industry and be able to compete with others in the country,” Mussa said.
He added that investing in business is a requirement for them because running a media organisation requires more money to employ people who can work for them and access quality equipment, which he said is very expensive nowadays.
The minister further acknowledged ZBS for employing more than 180 workers and having a good working place with quality and adequate media equipment.
He also pledged that government would assist them on challenges of access to information and other problems they face so that they continue broadcasting facts to the public within and outside the country.
ZBS Managing Director, Gospel Kazako commended the minister for hearing their concerns and asked government to treat broadcasting staff of the media house as Malawians, not as outsiders in course of conducting their broadcasting work.
“As a private media institution, we believe that government will reduce the tax we pay when ordering media equipment from outside the country, that will help us run our business smoothly and be able to deliver information to the general public,” he said.
In a separate interview, Managing Director for Airtel Malawi Company, Charles Kamoto commended government through the Ministry of Information for visiting them to appreciate what they are doing in business.
“We have invested K30 billion in the past three years to improve our network from 3G to 4G across the country to ease network problems for our customers,” he said.
He explained that customers are able to use Airtel internet without problems on Facebook, whatsapp, Instagram and twitter.
Mussa, who was placed to the Information Ministry in the recent cabinet changes, was touring media-related institutions to familiarize himself with the new portfolio
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