The Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament has criticised the decision to postpone the mid-year budget review meeting, warning that without it lawmakers cannot judge whether the budget is achieving its intended results. Committee chairperson Sosten Gwengwe said the review was needed to establish whether the budget was meeting its objectives and outputs. “The rest […]
Bogus “economists” who bluff their way onto TV panels and radio shows are set to be busted under a tough new law passed by Malawi’s parliament. Fed-up MPs gave the green light to the Economics Society of Malawi (ESOMA) Bill, which will finally force anyone calling themselves an economist to prove they’re the real deal […]
There is a particular kind of vindication that comes from watching your successor discover the arithmetic you once had to live with. Sosten Gwengwe, who held Malawi’s finance portfolio under the Chakwera government, now chairs Parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee — and from that vantage point, he has delivered a verdict on the current administration’s […]
Most of the country’s smallholder and medium scale food crop produce, livestock and fisheries farmers do not benefit from their toil because they are exploited by buyers since the market is not regulated by the government just as is the system in the tobacco industry. Thus, through interventions from various government Ministries and agencies, Agricultural […]
The long-awaited commissioning of the Mchinji One Border Post will take place in June 2021, the Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe has confirmed the development in an interview with Nyasa Times. The project was delayed due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) preventive restrictions, which, among others, prevented Anhui Foreign Economic Group from importing construction materials from China. […]
Government says it is investigating some foreign enterprises for obtaining business resident permits without following proper procedures. This follows revelations that most of foreign entrepreneurs ply their trade in locations reserved for locals, hence exerting unfair competition. Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe said that an investigation has been instituted to flush out illegal traders. Chitipa […]
Government has stepped in to regulate the poultry industry to stop the monopoly of the market by big companies. Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe said his ministry has started issuing licences to traders in the poultry sector. The move follows concerns raised by small scale traders of monopoly by big companies. Gwengwe believes the regulation […]
The story of Lazarus Chakwera’s rise to presidency is typical of a Malawian boy, born and raised in kerosene but, against all odds, he benefited from a functional education system that catapulted him to different capitals of power. In him you see a man who never missed a stage of life and, also, the hustles […]
Malawi government has finally gazetted the long-awaited Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Order effectively creating an adequate reserved space for the entrepreneurs to do business with the government and its numerous agencies. The SMEs have been facing bottlenecks to conduct business with the government, which among other things, included stiff competition from big businesses. This […]
Minister of Trade, Sosten Gwengwe says he is impressed with the contribution cotton investment companies are making to boost the cotton industry in the country. Gwengwe said this on Saturday when he visited the China-Africa Textile Company in Salima to appreciate the work the company is doing and the challenges it is currently facing. In […]
Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe has hailed the NasfamCommercial – a subsidiary company of the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (Nasfam) – for enhancing the promotion of value addition agenda, which the government is championining. Gwengwe made the remarks on Thursday when he toured Nasfam Commercial’s processing facility in Kanengo industrial area in Lilongwe to appreciate how […]
Minister of Trade, Sosten Gwengwe has said the construction of the One stop border post at Mchinji/Mwami-Zambia border would ease cross border trade between the two countries. According to the Team Leader of the Supervision at the One Stop Border project, Thomas Zilly, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the construction, but the construction work would be […]
A lack of foreign currency is causing the recent shortage of cement in import-heavy Malawi, according to Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe. Gwendwe said on Wednesday that cement companies lack the necessary foreign reserves to maintain production. Addressing the media in Lilongwe, Gwengwe warned cement traders against increasing prices beyond K7 500 which is recommended […]
Market traders in Malawi will be banned from selling second-hand underwear and other items, a move which has received mixed reactions as some traders fear this will negatively impact their economic livelihoods. The decision by the Malawi government to impose a ban on the importation of secondhand underwears is in line with the new Control of […]
The K2 trillion 2020/21 National Budget which is before Parliament may be withdrawn and allow a new Finance Minister to be appointed by incoming president Lazarus Chakwera who may be declared Malawi’s sixth president, to table its fiscal plan to factor in its development plans. The current Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Joseph […]
Parliament on Friday passed a four-month K511.3 billion provisional budget presented b new Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Joseph Mwanamvekha which forms part of the 2019/2020 national budget amidst concerns that there is more borrowing both on domestic and foreign debts. Member of Palrliament for Lilongwe Msozi North Sosten Gwengwe, who is also Malawi […]
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) incumbent legislator for Lilongwe Msinja North constituency, Sosten Gwengwe has said the party president Lazarus Chakwera has new policies aimed at making Malawi a better place to live in as he wants to ‘promote development and safeguard democracy and the dignity of Malawians irrespective of origin. Gwengwe and other MPs and senior party members […]
Two Malawi Congress Party (MCP) members of Parliament, Sosten Gwengwe and Peter Dimba on Saturday became the first to sail through in the primary process to become the party candidates during the forth coming 2019 general elections. Gwengwe comes from Lilongwe Msozi North while Dimba comes from Lilongwe South. In March 2017, Gwengwe floored down […]