Public sector workers have been left struggling to afford essentials in Malawi following a 50 percent fall in real incomes over five years in the face of deep budget cuts as more money is spent on interest payments, a new research has revealed.
The May 2025 Human Cost of Public Sector Cuts in Africa research, which draws from a survey conducted in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi and Nigeria, revealed that wages for 97 percent of health workers aren’t enough to cover food, electricity and household expenses.
On the other hand, 87 percent of teachers reported shortages of basic classroom materials, with three quarters of staff (73 percent) paying for equipment out of their own pockets.
In Malawi, the survey finds that 95 percent of health workers reported budget shortages for equipment and medicines in local health centres with 100 percent of them reporting inadequate pay as a further 95 percent struggled with covering school-related expenses.
In the education sector, 90 percent of teachers reported struggling to pay their children’s fees.
A primary school teacher is quoted in the report saying: “I now believe teaching is the least valued profession. With over 200 students in my class and inadequate teaching and learning materials, delivering quality education is nearly impossible.”
ActionAid is calling on education and health ministries to work with finance ministries to allocate sufficient resources to meet global benchmarks, ensure fair remuneration for workers, and improve infrastructure to deliver quality services.
In a statement following the release of the survey yesterday, ActionAid International global economic justice lead Roos Saalbrink said it is crucial that governments agree on new international rules on global economic governance that shift important decisions away from the IMF and towards democratic institutions, such as the United Nations, to shape a fair and inclusive global economy for all.
She said: “The debt crisis and drive for austerity is amplified for countries in the Global South and low-income countries, especially due to an unfair global economic system held in place by outdated institutions, such as the IMF.”
The ActionAid 2021 report titeld: “The Public Versus Austerity: Why Public Sector Wage Bill Constraints Must End” analysed 69 IMF documents, including loan agreements with governments and IMF surveillance advice, for 15 countries, including Malawi.
In the 2025/26 National Budget, interest payment is projected at K2.17 trillion, about half of the projected domestic revenue collection of K4.4 trillion.
The Abuja Declaration, adopted by the African Union in April 2001, stipulates that African countries who are signatories to the pact, should allocate 15 percent of the total budget to the health sector to improve healthcare access.
In the proposed 2025/26 National Budget, government has allocated K1.3 trillion to the education and skills development sector, representing 16.6 percent of the national budget, which is about four percentage points below the Dakar Commitment on Education for All by the African Union for African States to allocate 20 percent of their national budgets to education.
Last month, Civil Society Education Coalition board chairperson Limbani Nsapato said an expenditure tracking exercise they conducted revealed that critical programmes within the sector remain grossly underfunded.
