Africa-Press – Malawi. Malawi is currently breeding in sourcing forex for import cover including fuel, medical suppliers, and farm inputs and among others.
The country needs to export more goods and services than it imports to generate foreign exchange for the importation of essential goods and services such as pharmaceuticals, fuel, construction materials, industrial and motor vehicle spare parts as well as luxuries, notably consumer goods.
Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) director of financial markets Kisu Simwaka is on record as having said that the foreign exchange the country generates is only enough to cover 33 percent or one-third of the import needs. In his presentation in 2021, he asked the question: Where does the 67 percent come from?
Each month, Malawi spends an average of US$250 million on imports. Thus, at US$197.1 million last year, annual revenue from tobacco, the country’s major foreign exchange earner, was not even enough to cover a month’s import bill.
For any country to have enough forex on import cover there is a need for sound monetary, fiscal, and diaspora remittance policies.
The central bank and foreign affairs play a big role in forex regeneration through capable and skillful individuals.
Dr. Dalitso Kabambe as former Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2017 helped the nation forex cover before another excellent performance at the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) as governor from 2017 to 2020.
During his office term both at Foreign Affairs and Central Bank, Malawi did not suffer from any forex shocks as it’s being witnessed now under Reverend Lazarus Chakwera’s
Key achievements at Foreign Affairs
1. Revised the Country’s Foreign Policy and Diaspora Engagement Policy to them more development-oriented
2. Rationalized the country’s embassies abroad to make them more results-oriented and focussed
3. Natured all Development Cooperation frameworks to make sure that the country gets more foreign aid, gets good markets for its products, and that DFI’ and tourism numbers in the country increase
4. Revamped bilateral, regional, and multilateral agreements to the benefit of the country
5. Refurbished Malawi’s foreign offices abroad and within the country
2015 – 2017: Principal Secretary for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Responsibilities.
Controlling Officer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, responsible for budget planning, execution, expenditure control management, and reporting to both the Executive and Legislature;
Technical Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation responsible for defining strategic direction and vision of the Ministry, defining work plans for all Departments and ensuring that they effectively execute them, ensuring availability of financial and human resources for all work of the Ministry and undertake performance appraisals for all members of staff of the Ministry;
Technical advisor to the Government on the country’s Foreign policy, its formulation, and implementation; v Responsible for Managing and proper functioning of Malawi Missions abroad including their strategic directions, work plans, financial and human resources, and performance appraisals;
Act as Technical Head for Malawi delegations to all Technical Level bilateral, regional, and international negotiations including those of SADC, COMESA, AU, LDC, LLDC, WTO, and Commonwealth;
Technical Advisor to Government on Malawi’s positions in negotiations at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels on economic, financial, and political matters;
Participate in Malawi’s efforts aimed at mobilizing aid and technical assistance from bilateral and multilateral partners;
Facilitate efforts aimed at promoting peace and security regionally and internationally.
Coordinate Joint Permanent Commissions of Cooperation (JPCC) meetings and follow up on the execution of agreements; Undertake several other duties as defined and directed by the Appointing Authority from time to time.
Currently, diplomats in various embassies for Malawi have gone months without pay due to forex shortages.
Therefore, Dr. Kabambe is the man Malawi needs to unlock economic misfortunes currently Chakwera Tonse Alliance government is failing.
Dr. Kabambe is one of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Presidential aspirants for the 2025 Malawi polls.
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