Malawi has become the second country in the 21-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) to roll out a pilot implementation of the electronic certificate of origin to ease the f business environment.
The electronic certificate will be used between Malawi and Eswatini, which was the first Comesa member State to launch
the initiative and Zambia, which is expected to launch its pilot phase next year before a full roll out by December 2029.
Speaking during the launch of the project in Blantyre yesterday, Ministry of Trade and Industry Principal Secretary Christina Zakeyu said full implementation of the initiative means that traders will no longer need to spend time on physical documentation or incur trade expenses to acquire certificates, which will be beneficial for small and medium enterprises.
She said: “The launch aligns seamlessly with the Malawi 2063, particularly the pillar of industrialisation and economic transformation.
“A modernised trade facilitation process is integral to achieving sustainable economic growth. By simplifying trade, we empower our private sector, attract investments and create jobs for our people.”
Zakeyu said, among other benefits, the initiative presents Malawi with enhanced accuracy, a boost to regional and international trade as well as increased efficiency.
Malawi’s trade with Comesa has been falling, with published data showing that in 2023, out of $187.4 billion (about K328 trillion) worth of goods traded in the bloc, Malawi’s share of exports was only $966 million (about K1.6 trillion) compared to imports at $3.1 billion (about K5.4 trillion).
On the intra-Comesa front, out of the $14.1 billion (about K24 trillion) worth of exports, Malawi’s share stood at $161 million (about K281 billion) while its imports were double at $247 million (K432 billion), according to the data.
Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) executive director of corporate services Douglas Kaimapanjira Katchomoza, whose institution is an implementing agency, said the initiative will reduce the risk of fraud through secure electronic transmission of documents and accelerate trade operation.
“It will enhance revenue because it will reduce origin fraud whereby a product or a consignment is said to originate from a benefit beneficiary company when it is not,” he said.
On her part, Comesa senior customs officer Balnness Sumani said with the paper version, verification of authenticity was done via e-mails, which took time unlike with the electronic version where one will be required to scan the QR code.
The certificates of origin are issued to exporters within the Comesa Free Trade Area (FTA) to provide preferential treatment to goods originating from an FTA member State.
Any Malawi trader who wants to export under the Comesa Trade Agreement is required to follow the rules of origin under Comesa to benefit from the agreement.
With a population of 855 million people, Comesa has a gross domestic product of $1.13 trillion and a global import/export trade in goods worth more than $383 billion
