Africa-Press – Malawi. Malawi has been handed a wake-up call. The 2025 Malawi Trade Report launched by Minister of Industrialization, Business, Trade and Tourism George Partridge has laid bare the country’s deepening trade challenges—and the urgent reforms needed to reverse the decline.
The report highlights a 7 percent fall in exports for 2024, a widening trade deficit now sitting at $2.36 billion, and a worrying mismatch where imports continue to surge while exports shrink, threatening national productivity, foreign exchange stability and long-term growth.
Partridge said the report should not be seen as a document for filing, but as an action tool—a roadmap that shows the exact areas Malawi must fix to regain competitiveness and strengthen its position in regional and global markets.
He emphasized that Malawi must now shift from raw commodity dependence to a high-value, production-driven economy, urging structural reforms that expand manufacturing capacity, increase value addition, and unlock regional markets where Malawi can compete.
“The report gives us clear evidence,” he said. “Exports have dropped to $758.5 million. Imports remain above $3.3 billion. This gap is unsustainable. But the rise of digital trade and services shows we have new opportunities to diversify and stabilise the economy.”
Digital trade now accounts for almost 50 percent of merchandise export value, marking a significant pivot away from over-reliance on tobacco and other primary commodities.
To respond to these trends, Partridge laid out four priority actions with direct economic impact:
– attracting investment into special economic zones to boost industrial output;
– fixing regional trade bottlenecks and logistics barriers;
– expanding digital trade to encourage modern export models;
– and deepening agriculture industrialisation by building agro-processing zones and improving access to finance.
Export Development Fund (EDF) Board Chairperson Ted Nankhumwa reinforced the urgency, noting that Malawi’s export-driven recovery depends on strong financing tools and technical support. EDF has already pumped over K39 billion into trade and industrial growth between 2024 and 2025 in an effort to build a stronger productive base.
He pointed to EDF’s growing export credit services, plans to mobilise fresh capital, and the success of the Magwero Industrial Park pilot as signs that Malawi can build a viable industrial ecosystem—if reforms continue.
FDH Financial Holdings Group CEO William Mpinganjira added that the report offers banks and lenders a clear blueprint on which export sectors to support, saying financial institutions now have better data for directing capital to areas that can grow the economy.
Ultimately, the 2025 Malawi Trade Report acts as both a warning and an opportunity. It calls for stronger policies, smarter investments and tighter partnerships to reduce the trade gap, expand Malawi’s export capacity, and position the country for long-term competitiveness in a volatile global marketplace.
EDF, a development finance institution under the Reserve Bank of Malawi, says it stands ready to drive this transformation by supporting productive sectors and pushing the country toward economic diversification.
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