Rainbow Paints Malawi has exported the first consignment of its products to Tete, Mozambique, as part of the company’s strategy to expand its footprint in Southern Africa. The goods arrived last Wednesday.
The company’s commercial manager, Bruno Silas, said last week Rainbow Paints is pleased that it has managed to satisfy the local market; hence, penetrating the regional market.
“We want to expand our footprint to the whole of Southern African region. We are starting here in Tete, Mozambique where we have been coming since January last year up until December when we entered into a deal with a broker to sell our product exclusively,” he said.
Silas was speaking on the sidelines of a Malawi-Mozambique Business Forum which pooled a wide spectrum of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from Malawi and Mozambique.
Quizzed why it has taken the company about 23 years to venture into export the market, he said the company had an objective of fulfilling the domestic market before eying the international market.
“We wanted our products to be locally found before exporting the excess to the international market and we are happy that we have achieved this,” said Silas.
Minister of Industry and Trade Sosten Gwengwe, who led the Malawi delegation, hailed the private sector in Malawi for demonstrating willingness to expand Malawi’s export base which, he said, is crucial to generating foreign exchange, among others.
He pledged that government will strive to eliminate all non tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by Malawian businesspeople when exporting their products to the international market.
Gwengwe said government is determined to reduce the number of forms that exporters are required to fill in before they are allowed to export their products which is a stumbling block and time consuming to many exporters.
During the joint business forum, both the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) and the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture made presentations on investment opportunities in Malawi and tourism attractions in Malawi, respectively.
