Multinational corporations are draining more money from Malawi than corruption ever has, the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) has warned, calling for an urgent shift in national and donor focus from graft to corporate tax evasion.
Is MRA doing enough?
Speaking in Lilongwe during a tax justice meeting with faith leaders, EAM Fighting Inequalities Project coordinator Lusungu Kumwenda Mangochi said Malawi loses a staggering 65 percent of potential tax revenue to profit shifting and corporate evasion—compared to just five percent lost to corruption.
“Corruption is money already collected. The real tragedy is money that vanishes before it even reaches the Treasury,” she said. Kumwenda Mangochi estimated that illicit financial flows—largely driven by corporate tax avoidance—cost Malawi about $33 million (over K60 billion) every year, dwarfing the K18–30 billion lost annually to fraud and corruption cited in audit reports. She also criticised donors for fixating on corruption while ignoring corporate abuse.
“They’ve made us believe we are the thieves. Where is European funding to fight corporate tax evasion? Nowhere—because the stolen tax money flows back to Europe,” she said.
Backing the call, EAM deputy board chair Reverend Davidson Chifungo said inequality is baked into global systems that favour powerful corporations. Nyika Institute executive director Moses Mkandawire added that corruption narratives unfairly individualise blame while letting systemic corporate abuse off the hook.
“Tax justice exposes policy loopholes, weak regulation and harmful incentives. That’s where real reform and long-term fiscal stability lie,” he said, citing the Mbeki Panel report which found Malawi heavily affected by commercial illicit financial flows relative to its economy.
Anti-money laundering expert Jai Banda said Malawi’s struggle mirrors a global crisis, with developing countries losing up to $160 billion annually to profit shifting. He noted that opaque systems, transfer pricing manipulation, internal loans and tax havens make losses hard to track—problems worsened by Malawi Revenue Authority’s funding and staffing gaps, weak laws and limited international cooperation. The message from the meeting was blunt: until corporate tax abuse is confronted head-on, Malawi will keep bleeding—and blaming itself for wounds others inflict.
