Ecama meet highlights why Malawi fails to turn the corner

Politics and frequent policy shifts have been highlighted as key factors frustrating Malawi’s efforts to transform the economy as they disrupt the rhythm with changes in political leadership.

In a presentation at the ongoing Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) 2026 Annual Economic Conference in Mangochi

yesterday, African Institute for Development Policy (Afidep) executive director Eliya Zulu said Malawi’s failure to sustain reforms across successive administrations has weakened institutional continuity and frustrated efforts to achieve long-term development goals.

He said it was ironic that Malawi continued to struggle economically despite having solid development strategies and qualified public servants.

Zulu: We are seeing

inconsistency. |

Courtesy of Ecama

Zulu said Malawi needed to move away from policy decisions driven by short-term political interests and commit to implementing reforms beyond the five-year electoral cycle. He cited frequent changes in policy direction and the replacement of senior and middle-level government off icials as major obstacles to sustained implementation.

He said: “I think we are also seeing a systemic inconsistency. Instead, we have interests, special interests dominating the way we are going along with our policies.”

Zulu’s concerns come against a background of successive governments pursuing economic reforms amid

persistent macroeconomic challenges, raising questions about the effectiveness of policy implementation and the country’s ability to translate reform commitments into tangible results.

Ministr y of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation Principal Secretary for Economic Planning and Development Pat rick Kabambe also acknowledged institutional weaknesses that continue to constrain the implementation

financing arrangements, grower profitability and transparency in tobacco pricing and deductions, which affect farmers’ production costs and earnings.

While the presentation did not directly link the delay in finalising the regulations to political changes, it illustrated the implementation gaps that can arise when legislation is not followed by the timely completion of supporting regulatory arrangements.

The three presentations highlighted different but interconnected challenges facing Malawi’s reform agenda: policy inconsistency, weak institutional capacity and delays in implementing regulatory measures.

The two-day Ecama conference is being held under the theme ‘From policy to practice: Making reforms work’.

National Planning Commission has shifted focus to high-priority agricultural and industrial value chains to accelerate growth and salvage targets in Malawi 2063 (MW2063), the country’s long-term strategy that seeks to transform Malawi into “an inclusively wealthy, self-reliant, industrialised, upper-middle-income country by 2063”.

Sluggish growth has put the ambition under threat with the mid-term review of the First 10-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1) recommending concentration of resources on selected value chains that to fast-track commercialisation, boost manufacturing and create jobs.

Malawi’s economic growth stood at 4.6 percent in 2021 before slowing sharply to 0.9 percent in 2022. It recovered to 1.9 percent in 2023 and 2.7 percent in 2024 while growth was estimated at 2.7 percent in 2025, with a projection of 2.8 percent for 2026.

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