Under the hum and hustle of Lilongwe’s colourful Tsoka second-hand clothing market lies a sense of alarm over surging costs in Malawi, which is straining under its worst economic crisis in decades.At the shoe section, vendors’ association chairman Steve Magombo is regularly interrupted by some of the 2,000 stallholders, their voices rising urgently above the din. In the chaotic three months since the prices started rising steeply, Magombo has become the face of growing frustration about soaring inflation, which topped 30 percent year-on-year in February.Sharply dressed and with an air of authority, Magombo led a protest march of 5,000 vendors to parliament late last month in the biggest demonstration in the capital in years.It was followed by protests in at least four cities across the length of Malawi, where nearly three-quarters of the population of 21 million lives in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank. Coming just months ahead of September elections, the protests were the largest since demonstrations in 2019 that ushered into power President Lazarus Chakwera, who will be seeking a second term.Inflation on food reached 38.5 percent in February, according to the national statistics office. The cost of a 50kg (110-pound) bag of maize, the country’s staple food, has nearly tripled since December, to 110,000 kwacha ($63).This compares to a monthly minimum wage of $52 which drops to $26 a month for domestic workers. “The price hikes that started in January?
Completely unrealistic,” said Magombo, shaking his head. Wholesalers are increasing the prices of the goods they sell to the vendors sometimes three times a day, he said at his own stall of high-end shoe brands.”For example, a bale of kids’ clothes that used to sell at K800,000 (about $400) in December had doubled to K1,500,000 ($750) before our protests started,” he said.”These skyrocketing prices are suffocating the industry, and with it, an entire ecosystem that so many lives depend on.”- ‘We are desperate’ -“How do they expect us to survive?” asked Chisomo Anderson, who sells phone accessories at Lilongwe’s Zomba Market.”The price of goods keeps going up so much that it has become almost impossible to run a business.
So, the protests were a way of pleading with the government to hear our cries. We are desperate,” he said.Malawi is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, said UK-based policy expert James Woods. “Inflation has surged into double digits, gutting household incomes.
Basic commodities have become unaffordable luxuries for many. “The Malawian kwacha has been in free fall, losing more than half its value since 2022 after a series of sharp devaluations,” he told AFP. “For a net-importing country, the collapse of the kwacha has been catastrophic, fuelling import costs and further stoking inflation in a vicious cycle.”The business sector is alarmed. “Forex shortages, in particular, pose a critical threat to operations, limiting businesses’ ability to import essential goods, pay suppliers and maintain viability,” said the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.To shore up foreign currency reserves, the government has banned imports of selected goods including some vegetables such as Irish potatoes, maize flour, fresh milk, peanut butter and meat products.This is intended to stimulate local production, Trade Minister Vitumbiko Mumba told reporters.But few are convinced that the authorities have the crisis in hand.”The government seems to have no clue on how they can bring the economy back on track,” said Gift Trapence, leader of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition, which led the 2019 protests that focused on allegations of electoral fraud. “The crisis should be treated with urgency because there are a few months remaining until the elections.
The government should show that it can deliver and turn around the economy,” said Trapence. Chakwera, 69, won 58 percent of votes in the 2020 elections. He faces a formidable battle for re-election, with his longtime rival, former president Peter Mutharika, 85, seeking a political comeback.
Fri, 21 Mar 2025 07:35:12 GMT
