Malawi’s intra- SADC trade low
Malawi’s trade with the 14-member Southern African Development Community (Sadc) remained in deficit at minus K113.6 billion in 2023, according to the National Statistical Office (NSO) latest data.
In the year under review, Malawi recorded a negative trade balance with all the countries in the trade bloc except for neighbouring Tanzania and Lesotho.
NSO data shows that Malawi’s trade deficit with Sadc was recorded at minus K113.6 billion in 2023 with the country registering the highest trade deficit with South Africa at minus K412.8 billion.
Imports from the region stood at K320.8 billion while exports were recorded at K241.3 billion, according to the report, which shows that Malawi imported K201.3 billion worth of goods from South Africa. Exports were valued at K59.2 billion to that country.
Meanwhile, Malawi has maintained a positive trade balance with Tanzania for the past three years, with data showing that in 2021 the positive trade was recorded at K5.1 billion and thereafter jumped to K15.6 billion in 2022 and settled at K124.5 billion last year.
Apart from Tanzania, Malawi recorded a positive trade balance with Lesotho at K683 million last year, Zimbabwe at minus K48.3 billion and Zambia minus K28 billion, among other countries.
Tanzania exports have been steadily growing, according to NSO figures, from K24.6 billion in 2021 to K57 billion in 2022 and K82.1 billion in 2023 while imports fluctuated from K30 billion in 2021 to K41.3 billion in 2022 and slightly dropped to K22.7 billion last year.
Ministry of Trade and Industry Principal Secretary Christina Zakeyo, in an interview yesterday, said the country’s trade balance is affected by many factors outside its trade facilitation role.
“However, it is also important to mention that a country’s trade balance is not only affected by trade facilitation measures, but also such things as export competitiveness of the country, inflation, exchange rates, consumer import appetite and economic policies,” she said.
In a separate interview, Grain Traders Association of Malawi president Grace Mijiga Mhango attributed the rising exports to Tanzania to the growing market of groundnuts and soya beans.
“As a country, we have been benefiting a lot from Tanzania, especially through exports of groundnuts and soya beans although the kind of market is not formal such that if you look at the proceeds in foreign exchange, we have not been able to attract impressive returns,” she said.
Mijiga-Mhang0 said Malawi is losing out because the soya is exported in raw form and Tanzania re-exports the crop to other countries after adding value.
Cross-border Traders Association president Steve Yohane said in an interview yesterday that Malawi supplies agricultural produce to Tanzania because of its proximity just like Zambia and Mozambique.
Meanwhile, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Business Council president James Chimwaza attributed the worsening trade gap to a number of factors, including the volatile exchange rate and continued lack of production capacity
