Regional customs guarantee to spur competitiveness

Christopher Jimu November 29, 2013

1 minute read

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Employee training is one of the methods of investing in human capital

Minister of Information Brown Mpinganjira has urged companies to invest in their workforce because human capital is a key driver of success and sustainability in any organisation.

Mpinganjira said that experience has shown that successful organisations are those which motivate and retain best performing human capital because to train an individual especially in this technologically advanced world takes time.

He was speaking during the opening of the Southern Africa Telecommunications Associations Human Development and E-Learning two-day workshop at Bingu International Conference centre in Lilongwe on Wednesday.

Said Mpinganjira: “It is an undisputable fact that successful organisations are those that take care of their employees because human capital is what drives companies forward. These organisations usually vie with one another to recruit the best university and business school graduates. They also vie for the most enterprising and promising talents from their competitors.”

He added that successful organisations also take care of talented employees and give them space to exercise their creativity and studies have revealed that innovation and creativity is high in better managed organisations.

He gave the example of Google as one of the best organisations where priority is given to the welfare of employees.

“Google provides employees with what is called outrageous benefits such as free gourmet meals, company movie days, free Wi-Fi services and enabled shuttles to ferry employees to and from work. In return the company demands top performance from its employees such that an average employee generates far more revenue to other companies in the ICT industry,” said Mpinganjira.

MTL chief executive Gavin Jeffrey concurred with Mpinganjira saying that the telecommunication industry is one where technology is changing fast and hence the need to have staff who can easily embrace ICT changes.

“Our industry is one of the fastest changing in terms of technology, which presents a challenge to all of us interms of understanding technologies as they are developed, but also when and if to adopt those new technologies into our net-work,” said Jeffrey.

He said sharing of knowledge should not just be within organisations or in workshops or within organisations in the same sector but information should also be shared between customer and supplier because this creates trust.

Christopher Jimu November 29, 2013

1 minute read

Christopher Jimu

Regional customs guarantee to spur competitiveness

Christopher Jimu November 29, 2013

1 minute read

Listen to this article

Minister of Information Brown Mpinganjira has urged companies to invest in their workforce because human capital is a key driver of success and sustainability in any organisation.

Mpinganjira said that experience has shown that successful organisations are those which motivate and retain best performing human capital because to train an individual especially in this technologically advanced world takes time.

He was speaking during the opening of the Southern Africa Telecommunications Associations Human Development and E-Learning two-day workshop at Bingu International Conference centre in Lilongwe on Wednesday.

Said Mpinganjira: “It is an undisputable fact that successful organisations are those that take care of their employees because human capital is what drives companies forward. These organisations usually vie with one another to recruit the best university and business school graduates. They also vie for the most enterprising and promising talents from their competitors.”

He added that successful organisations also take care of talented employees and give them space to exercise their creativity and studies have revealed that innovation and creativity is high in better managed organisations.

He gave the example of Google as one of the best organisations where priority is given to the welfare of employees.

“Google provides employees with what is called outrageous benefits such as free gourmet meals, company movie days, free Wi-Fi services and enabled shuttles to ferry employees to and from work. In return the company demands top performance from its employees such that an average employee generates far more revenue to other companies in the ICT industry,” said Mpinganjira.

MTL chief executive Gavin Jeffrey concurred with Mpinganjira saying that the telecommunication industry is one where technology is changing fast and hence the need to have staff who can easily embrace ICT changes.

“Our industry is one of the fastest changing in terms of technology, which presents a challenge to all of us interms of understanding technologies as they are developed, but also when and if to adopt those new technologies into our net-work,” said Jeffrey.

He said sharing of knowledge should not just be within organisations or in workshops or within organisations in the same sector but information should also be shared between customer and supplier because this creates trust.

Christopher Jimu November 29, 2013

1 minute read

Christopher Jimu

Regional customs guarantee to spur competitiveness

Innocent Helema November 15, 2013

2 minutes read

Listen to this article

Katsonga (L) and Giday (R) captured during the opening ceremony

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has said the Regional Customs Transit Guarantee (RCTG) scheme will make the regions goods cheaper and more competitive on the global market.

Speaking on Thursday at Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre during the official opening of the RCTG workshop, in which the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), insurance companies and freight forwarders took part, Comesa RCTG chief programme officer, Berhane Giday noted that the cost of transit and transport in the Comesa region is the highest in the world.

“This makes the cost of imported goods very expensive, raises the cost of goods for consumers and producers and adversely affects competitiveness of export goods in international market.

“One way of improving our competitiveness is to reduce the transport and transit by implementing the RCTG scheme. The scheme is designed to eliminate the administrative and financial costs that are associated with the current system of nationally executed bonds,” said Giday.

Agnes Katsonga Phiri MRA commissioner of customs and excise for imports, noted that Malawi being a land locked country suffers high transportation costs and the scheme would reduce the cost of doing business in Malawi and consequently attract investment.

“The issue of trade facilitation is an important tool of economic development for developing countries, particularly, for landlocked and land-linked. A land-locked country’s trade flow to a large proportion depends upon transportation. Therefore customs security is one of the major difficulties in freight transport and trade facilitation, because guarantee payment represents a high cost for transport operators and traders.

“The current practice of raising cash or bank guarantee or insurance bond in each and every country of transit is costly, cumbersome and time consuming while nationally executed bonds have tied up a colossal sum of money. Therefore reducing transit costs, simplifying customs procedures and improving national and regional trade environments are of critical importance,” said Katsonga Phiri.

She also noted that the scheme would improve Malawi’s ranking on doing business.

The Comesa RCTG is a customs transit regime designed to facilitate the movement of goods in the region and to provide the required customs security and guarantee to the transit countries.

The scheme therefore addresses the difficulties experienced by transport operators, freight forwarders and clearing agents while effectively protecting the revenue of each State through which goods are carried.

Innocent Helema November 15, 2013

2 minutes read

Innocent Helema