Malawi wants to boost local investment

Malawi government has said it is reviewing business laws to encourage more local investment.

Minister of Trade and Industry John Bande said this in Blantyre where he visited Chloride Batteries which celebrated its 45th anniversary last week.

The minister was optimistic that post-mortem on laws would help to enhance private sector investment.

“Government is looking at a bigger picture because if more of our investments were locally owned as is the case with Chloride Batteries, then more returns would remain in the country,” he said.

Bande said Parliament has already scrutinised 40 laws and pledged that more would be examined in the coming months.

“We would love if we had more local entrepreneurs at the helm of businesses, creating employment for their people,” he said, adding that this can only be done if government creates a conducive climate for doing business.

Chloride Batteries chief executive officer Osward Lutepo said proliferation of counterfeit products on the market is a major challenge facing the company and he asked government to intervene.

“Chloride is a company for the present and the future. But it is faced with the challenge of influx of counterfeit batteries which pose a challenge to its growth,” said Lutepo.

The wholly Malawian-owned company started its operation on July 26 1967 under a brand name, Battery Makers Limited.—Mana