Kwacha Devaluation & more – 9th Nov 2023

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 9th of November twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

The cost of living will go up again. This follows the Reserve Bank’s devaluation of the Kwacha by 44% on Wednesday, the 8th.

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The US dollar was already selling at 1,700 Kwacha on the black market. This devaluation is just the Reserve Bank playing catch up since locals were trading forex on the black market more than through official channels, due to legal red tape such as limited access to forex. For instance, online forex transactions were limited to fifty dollars only.

Social media has been in shambles ever since news about the devaluation came out. A lot of people are on the lookout for the cost of goods, which will go up anytime soon. This is causing somewhat unnecessary panic. For instance, on Thursday the 9th, there was concern among the public about Game Store in Lilongwe being closed during their operating hours. Game could be adjusting their prices.

This is especially worrying since the Black Friday sales are coming up in about two weeks, and Game is one of the stores that usually has great Black Friday deals. A price adjustment on their goods now will mean that their Black Friday deals may just reflect the current cost of goods and have no real financial savings impact. There was also fear that Game would close shop in Malawi.

Simplex Chithyola, the Finance Minister, will hold a press conference on Monday the 13th.

During the conference, Chithyola will outline the measures that the government has put in place to cushion vulnerable locals and stimulate economic growth.

Many people on social media have said they are curious to hear what the government will say. However, they don’t expect the solutions to impact their livelihood significantly.

Things aren’t looking too good on the health front either. There are fears that Malawi will experience a cholera outbreak during this year’s rainy season, which starts at the end of this month. Outbreaks are quite common during the rainy season, but this time, the Ministry of Health has already begun recording cholera cases even though the rains haven’t started yet.

According to the Ministry, hospitals in Lilongwe, Blantyre, and Nsanje have recorded about fifty cases and one death between September and October. Adrian Chikumbe, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, attributed the cases to poor access to safe water and said the government is monitoring the current cases.

Recall that, in August, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Cholera declared that cholera was no longer a threat after recording zero cases on the cholera epidemic that started last March and registered over 58 thousand cases and close to two thousand deaths.

On Monday, the 6th, the Ministry of Health also announced a measles outbreak in Lilongwe. They confirmed the outbreak in Area 36 and several surrounding villages. Until Friday, the 3rd, they had recorded thirty-two suspected cases and confirmed nine. Most of the cases are of children below fifteen who did not receive the recommended measles vaccination as babies due to religious and cultural beliefs.

To control the outbreak, the Ministry will conduct a supplementary vaccination campaign for children in all affected areas and implement supportive therapy and isolation where necessary.

Measles is a contagious disease that mainly affects children. Patients usually have high fever, red and watery eyes, and distinctive small red spots. It is spread through droplets when a patient coughs or sneezes and can be fatal if left untreated.

On the positive side of health news, Thom Mpinganjra, the founder of the First Discount House bank, announced that he is constructing a multi-billion Kwacha Cancer Center in Blantyre. He made the announcement on Sunday the 5th, during the bank’s fifteen-year celebration.

Mpinganjira said the loss of his wife Barbara inspired the project. He told local media that he spent three months in a hotel in South Africa when his wife was battling cancer, and it is an experience he doesn’t want anyone else to have. He said they expect to start their operations next month.

In trending news, Malawi is the butt of Southern African countries’ jokes.

It all started on Saturday the 4th when Pemphero Mphande, a local influencer, shared on his social media pages that the University of South Africa (or UNISA) had awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Community Development for all his local humanitarian works. In his post, he was wearing graduation regalia, posing with his certificate with the UNISA emblem behind him. Thousands of locals rushed to congratulate him, but the event was still put into question. One local, John Kachere, had so many doubts about the legitimacy of the influencer earning the award that he emailed UNISA to ask for the authenticity of Mphande’s claim.

On Monday the 7th, UNISA flooded their website and social media pages with a statement denying ever awarding any honorary doctorates to Mphande. They also revealed that they never awarded honorary doctorates to two other locals—musician Patience Namadingo in twenty twenty-one and businessman Mansoor Sharif Karim in twenty twenty.

However, Mphande and Namadingo maintain that they received their doctorates from UNISA. Mphande has even challenged UNISA and insinuated that their employees may be running a scam using the UNISA brand. This has only added fuel to the news, which is currently trending on all platforms.

On Wednesday, the 8th, President Lazarus Chakwera departed for Saudi Arabia with over seventy delegates for the fifth Africa-Arab Summit scheduled for the 10th and 11th of November. But, on Tuesday the 7th, the organizers of the Summit announced that they had postponed it due to the ongoing Israel and Palestine war. So, what will the president do in Saudi Arabia?

A few hours later, Moses Kunkuyu, the Minister of Information and Digitalisation, clarified that President Chakwera had to attend two consecutive events, including the Saudi-Arab Summit, which is still ongoing. He said Chakwera’s travel aims to strengthen Malawi and Saudi Arabia’s relationship since it is critical to the Mangochi-Makanjira Road Construction agreement, which the Saudi Fund for Development will finance.

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia, confirmed Kunkuyu’s claims.

On Thursday the 9th, Al-Jadaan announced that Saudi Arabia would sign 533 million US dollars worth of agreements with several African countries, including Malawi. He made the announcement in the capital city of Riyadh during the opening of the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference, as they anticipate the Saudi-Africa Summit, which starts on Friday the 10th.

Still on financial news, NICO Asset Managers has changed their dividend payout procedures. On Wednesday the 8th, NICO Asset Managers said that since the 1st of January twenty twenty-four, they won’t be issuing cheques for dividends anymore. So if you own shares at NICO Holding Plc, NBS Bank, and Blantyre Hotels Plc, they will now be delivered to you electronically.

They have asked all their shareholders to provide their valid bank account information or mobile money numbers, and copies of their national IDs at their offices or via their website before the 31st of December.

For more information, check out the link in our show notes.

And to wrap up this edition, The Malawi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (or MCCCI) is getting ready to bid its Chief Executive Officer goodbye next January. On Wednesday, the 8th, the Council for the MCCCI announced that Chancellor Kaferapanjira would resign after twenty-one years of leading the MCCCI.

According to the statement, the MCCCI is currently searching for a new Chief Executive Officer.

And that's it for this week!

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