Malawi fails to move Out of LDC’s—UN
Malawi has alongside other 43 other Least Developed Countries (LCDs) missed out on the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) recommendation for graduation from the list of 47 poorest countries.
This means Malawi will continue to be one of the poorest countries in the world unlike neighbouring Zambia, which is a middle-income country and Mozambique and Tanzania which are on the path to rapid economic development.
Farhan Haq during a briefing
According to information published on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad)webiste, only four countries, namely Bhutan, Kiribati, São Tomé and Príncipe and Solomon Islands, have been recommended for graduation from the special UN category for LCDs.
The committee’s recommendations follow increases in the national income in all the countries coupled with improved education and health.
Others include government development policies as well as an improved global economic environment and the coordinated efforts which has driven the progress.
CDP chairperson Jose Antonio Ocampo said: “In the 47 years since the start of the category, only five countries have previously left the list.”
He added that two more countries, Vanuatu and Angola, are scheduled for graduation in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Economists have argued that the current social-political environment is one of the contributing factors to slow progress the country is making in its quest to graduate into middle income country.
To get out of the list of the poor countries, Finance, Economic Planning and Development Minister Goodall Gondwe said Malawi needs to achieve an average growth rate of five percent during the next five years.
But speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS III) last week in Lilongwe, Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) president Chikumbutso Kalilombe said the country needs to manage the volatility of the macro-economic environment because, as it is, there is a lot of back and forth movements of the economic growth.
Catholic University dean of social sciences Gilbert Kachamba earlier said the country is far from graduating from LDCs status as there are still a lot of areas that need redress.
To be considered for graduation, countries must meet two of the three criteria at two consecutive three-yearly reviews of the CDP. n
