Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Malawi
Malawi
History
Malawi was once called Maravi, or ‘reflected light’ – perhaps a reference to
sunlight glittering on Lake Malawi. Archaeological excavations have revealed
evidence of early settlements around Lake Malawi, dating back to the late Stone
and Iron Ages.
The area is mentioned in early Arab writings and in Portuguese writings of the
17th and 18th centuries. The pre-colonial Maravi Empire was a loosely
organised society covering an expanse of territory well beyond present-day
Malawi and encompassed first the Chewa and later the Tumbuka ethnic groups.
The Yao from the north and the Ngoni made successful invasions during the
19th century. The Yao became involved in the commercial slave trade, acting as
agents for the coastal Arabs. David Livingstone visited Lake Malawi (then
called Lake Nyasa) in 1859 and was followed in succeeding decades by British
missionaries, traders and planters. This was an unsettled period, with
widespread slave raiding.
The following decade saw widespread political unrest, much of it arising from
splits and rivalries. Pressure for democratic reform intensified at the end of the
1980s. The one-party government held out for a period: thousands of arrests
were made in the first half of 1992, among those arrested was trade union leader
and multiparty democracy campaigner Chakufwa Chihana. Strikes, student
demonstrations and political riots were suppressed by police, in the course of
which at least 38 people died.
Over 78 per cent of the adult population voted in the referendum on 14 June
1993, and 63 per cent supported a multiparty system. The constitution was
accordingly amended. Banda also announced an amnesty for all Malawians
imprisoned or exiled for political activities. Laws passed by the National
Assembly in November 1993 committed Malawi to human rights including
freedom of expression. The Constitution (Amendment) Act introduced a bill of
rights, the title of life President (which had been assumed by Banda in 1971)
was dropped from the constitution and a number of restrictive laws were
repealed
Early history
Malawi
The paleontological record of human cultural artifacts in Malawi dates back
more than 50,000 years, although known fossil remains of early Homo
sapiens belong to the period between 8000 and 2000 BCE. These prehistoric
forebears have affinities to the San people of southern Africa and were probably
ancestral to the Twa and Fulani, whom Bantu-speaking peoples claimed to have
found when they invaded the Malawi region between the 1st and 4th
centuries CE. From then to about 1200 CE, Bantu settlement patterns spread, as
did ironworking and the slash-and-burn method of cultivation. The identity of
these early Bantu-speaking inhabitants is uncertain. According to oral tradition,
names such as Kalimanjira, Katanga, and Zimba are associated with them.
With the arrival of another wave of Bantu-speaking peoples between the 13th
and 15th centuries CE, the recorded history of the Malawi region began. These
peoples migrated into the region from the north, and they interacted with
and assimilated the earlier pre-Bantu and Bantu inhabitants. The descendants of
these peoples maintained a rich oral history, and, from 1500, written records
were kept in Portuguese and English.
Among the notable accomplishments of the last group of Bantu immigrants was
the creation of political states, or the introduction of centralized systems of
government. They established the Maravi Confederacy about 1480. During the
16th century the confederacy encompassed the greater part of what is now
central and southern Malawi, and, at the height of its influence, in the 17th
century, its system of government affected peoples in the adjacent areas of
present-day Zambia and Mozambique. North of the Maravi territory,
the Ngonde founded a kingdom about 1600. In the 18th century a group of
immigrants from the eastern side of Lake Malawi created the Chikulamayembe
state to the south of the Ngonde.
The precolonial period witnessed other important developments. In the 18th and
19th centuries, better and more productive agricultural practices were adopted.
In some parts of the Malawi region, shifting cultivation of indigenous varieties
of millet and sorghum began to give way to more intensive cultivation of crops
with a higher carbohydrate content, such as corn (maize), cassava (manioc), and
rice.
The independent growth of indigenous governments and improved economic
systems was severely disturbed by the development of the slave trade in the late
18th century and by the arrival of foreign intruders in the late 19th century. The
slave trade in Malawi increased dramatically between 1790 and 1860 because of
the growing demand for slaves on Africa’s east coast.
Swahili-speaking people from the east coast and the Ngoni and Yao peoples
entered the Malawi region between 1830 and 1860 as traders or as armed
refugees fleeing the Zulu states to the south. All of them eventually created
Malawi
spheres of influence within which they became the dominant ruling class. The
Swahili speakers and the Yao also played a major role in the slave trade.
Islam spread into Malawi from the east coast. It was first introduced
at Nkhotakota by the ruling Swahili-speaking slave traders, the Jumbe, in the
1860s. Traders returning from the coast in the 1870s and ’80s brought Islam to
the Yao of the Shire Highlands. Christianity was introduced in the 1860s
by David Livingstone and by other Scottish missionaries who came to Malawi
after Livingstone’s death in 1873. Missionaries of the Dutch Reformed
Church of South Africa and the White Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church
arrived between 1880 and 1910.
Christianity owed its success to the protection given to the missionaries by the
colonial government, which the British established after occupying the Malawi
region in the 1880s and ’90s. British colonial authority was welcomed by the
missionaries and some African societies but was strongly resisted by the
Yao, Chewa, and others.
Colonial rule
In 1891 the British established the Nyasaland Districts Protectorate, which was
called the British Central Africa Protectorate from 1893 and Nyasaland from
1907. Under the colonial regime, roads and railways were built, and the
cultivation of cash crops by European settlers was introduced. On the other
hand, the colonial administration did little to enhance the welfare of the African
majority, because of commitment to the interests of European settlers. It failed
to develop African agriculture, and many able-bodied men migrated to
neighbouring countries to seek employment. Furthermore, between 1951 and
1953 the colonial government decided to join the colonies of Southern and
Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland, against bitter opposition from their African inhabitants.
Postindependence Malawi
The progress that Malawi experienced under Mutharika began to erode during
his second term as his rule grew increasingly autocratic and the country faced
new economic challenges. Some officials who expressed disagreement with
Mutharika were dismissed from high-ranking positions, including Vice
Pres. Joyce Banda, who was expelled from Mutharika’s DPP in December
2010, although she was able to retain her position as vice president of the
country. The dismissals came amid rumours that Mutharika was grooming his
brother, Peter, to succeed him as the DPP presidential candidate in elections
scheduled for 2014.
Nationwide protests fueled by discontent with the country’s political and
economic situation were held on July 20, 2011, which the army dealt with
harshly: 19 demonstrators were killed, and hundreds more were wounded.
International donors grew dissatisfied with the way that Mutharika was handling
the country’s economic problems and were concerned about the
administration’s apparent dwindling respect for upholding human rights. As a
result, the country lost millions of dollars of much-needed aid, including a
considerable amount from Great Britain after the two countries engaged in a
high-profile diplomatic spat. Against the backdrop of simmering political
discontent, rising food prices, fuel shortages, and a power crisis, news that
Mutharika had suffered a heart attack on April 5, 2012—and the subsequent
reports of his death—left the country in a state of uncertainty. Official
confirmation of Mutharika’s death was delayed, leading to well-founded
concerns of a succession struggle between Banda, who had a
constitutionally mandated right to take over as president, and members of
Mutharika’s clique, who wanted to block her from serving in the position. The
government did not officially confirm Mutharika’s death until April 7, and, with
strong domestic and international support to counter Mutharika’s small circle of
key supporters, Banda was sworn in as acting president that same day.
Banda moved quickly to counter the policies of Mutharika’s administration.
During her first few months in office, she restored diplomatic relations with
Great Britain and normalized relations with donors. Banda also focused on
restoring democratic practices, repairing the economy, and eliminating
government corruption. One of her first economic decisions as president was to
devalue the country’s currency, an act that was backed by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and donors but criticized at home and followed by a
jump in the inflation rate. Her policies were somewhat effective, as donors
Malawi
resumed a flow of funding to Malawi, the inflation rate eventually began to fall,
and the country’s economic growth rate more than doubled during her first two
years as president. Still, much of the country remained at or below the poverty
level.
Malawi’s battle with corruption came to the fore in 2013, after Paul Mphwiyo,
the Ministry of Finance official heading up efforts to investigate and eliminate
government corruption, was the target of an assassination attempt in September.
The subsequent investigation into the attack quickly exposed the “cash-gate”
scandal, a massive fraud and corruption operation that allegedly involved
senior-level government officials, including some cabinet ministers in Banda’s
administration. On October 10 Banda dissolved her entire cabinet to ensure that
the officials under suspicion did not interfere with the investigation. Trials for
those accused in the scandal began in January 2014. The next month, an
independent audit report presented evidence that more than $30 million had
been stolen from the government during a six-month period in 2013.
The monetary total was expected to increase as the investigations continued,
with estimates ranging from $100 million to $250 million.
The cash-gate scandal was one of the issues that figured prominently in
campaigns for the May 2014 presidential, parliamentary, and local government
elections, with Banda citing it as evidence that she was tackling corruption
while opposition candidates pointed out that it happened under her watch; some
even claimed that she was complicit in the scandal and had benefited from the
misappropriated funds. By the time the elections were held on May 20, Banda
appeared to be in a tight race with 3 of the other 11 presidential candidates,
including Peter Mutharika, DDP leader and brother of the former president.
Voting did not go smoothly, and polls were kept open a second and third day in
areas that had experienced significant problems or delays. Additional problems
surfaced, with Banda and some opposition parties complaining of voting
irregularities and alleging that vote rigging had occurred, and there were delays
with the tallying of the votes. Still, the consensus of international observers was
that the elections, despite some problems, were generally credible.
On May 24 Banda proclaimed that she was annulling the elections and ordering
them to be repeated in 90 days; she also said she would not be a candidate in the
new presidential election. However, her proclamation was quickly overturned
by the country’s High Court, which said that Banda did not have the power to
annul the elections, the elections were still valid, and vote counting should
continue. Soon after that, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), which had
been announcing partial results as they were tallied, stopped releasing results
and indicated the need to conduct a recount after discovering some
voting anomalies. Many legal motions were filed in conjunction with the
election and the vote-tallying process, including one by Mutharika’s DPP party,
which sought and received an injunction to prevent a full recount from
occurring. The MEC petitioned the High Court for a waiver to extend the
Malawi
deadline for releasing the election results—eight days from the closing of the
polls—in order to have time to complete a partial recount of votes from
problematic areas. On May 30 the High Court denied the request and ordered
the MEC to announce the results. Mutharika was declared the winner, with 36.4
percent of the vote; he was followed by Lazarus Chakwera, who obtained 27.8
percent, and Banda, who came in third with 20.2 percent. Banda conceded and
Mutharika was sworn in as president on May 31, 2014.
Geography
Location:
Southern Africa, east of Zambia, west and north of
Mozambique
Geographic Coordinates
13.2543° S, 34.3015° E
Area
total: 118,484 sq km
land: 94,080 sq km
water: 24,404 sq km
Land boundaries
Total: 2,857 km
Border countries (3): Mozambique 1498 km, Tanzania 512 km,
Zambia 847 km
Climate
sub-tropical; rainy season (November to May); dry season
(May to November)
Terrain
narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded hills,
some mountains
Elevation
mean elevation: 779 m
lowest point: junction of the Shire River and international
boundary with Mozambique 37 m
highest point: Sapitwa (Mount Mlanje) 3,002 m
Natural Resources
Limestone, arable land, hydropower, unexploited deposits of
uranium, coal, and bauxite
Malawi
Economy
Overview
Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The
country’s economic performance has historically been constrained by
policy inconsistency, macroeconomic instability, poor infrastructure,
rampant corruption, high population growth, and poor health and
education outcomes that limit labor productivity. The economy is
predominately agricultural with about 80% of the population living in
rural areas. Agriculture accounts for about one-third of GDP and 80%
of export revenues. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to
short-term growth as tobacco accounts for more than half of exports,
although Malawi is looking to diversify away from tobacco to other
cash crops.
Agriculture - products:
tobacco, sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava
(manioc, tapioca), sorghum, pulses, cotton, groundnuts, macadamia
nuts, coffee; cattle, goats
Industries:
tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods
Industrial production growth rate:
1.2% (2017 est.)
Labor force:
7 million (2013 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 76.9%
industry: 4.1%
Malawi
services: 19% (2013 est.)
Unemployment rate:
20.4% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 187
Population below poverty line:
50.7% (2010 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 37.5% (2010 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
46.1(2010)
39 (2004)
Budget
expenditures: 1.567 billion (2017 est.)
Taxes and other revenues:
21.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):
-3.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Public debt:
59.2% of GDP (2017 est.)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
12.2% (2017 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
16% (31 December 2017 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
38.1% (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of narrow money:
$632.4 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of broad money:
$632.4 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of domestic credit:
$1.161 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares
$18.97 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Current account balance:
-$591 million (2017 est.)
Exports
$1.42 billion (2017 est.)
Malawi
Exports - partners:
Zimbabwe 13.1%, Mozambique 11.8%, Belgium 10.7%, South Africa
6.3%, Netherlands 5%, UK 4.7%, Germany 4.3%, US 4.2% (2017)
Exports - commodities:
tobacco (55%), dried legumes (8.8%), sugar (6.7%), tea (5.7%), cotton
(2%), peanuts, coffee, soy (2015 est.)
Imports:
$2.312 billion (2017 est.)
Imports - commodities:
food, petroleum products, semi-manufactures, consumer goods,
transportation equipment
Imports - partners:
South Africa 20.7%, China 14.2%, India 11.6%, UAE 7%, Netherlands
4.4% (2017)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$780.2 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Debt - external:
$2.102 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$142.5 million (2015 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
NA
Exchange rates:
Malawian kwachas (MWK) per US dollar -
731.69 (2017 est.)
Disputes- International
Dispute with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Malawi (Lake
Nyasa) and the meandering Songwe River; Malawi contends that the
entire lake up to the Tanzanian shoreline is its territory, while
Tanzania claims the border is in the center of the lake; the conflict was
reignited in 2012 when Malawi awarded a license to a British company
for oil exploration in the lake.
Refugees and internally displaced persons
refugees (country of origin): 26,641 (Democratic Republic of the
Congo) (refugees and asylum seekers), 8,752 (Burundi) (refugees and
asylum seekers), 6,606 (Rwanda) (refugees and asylum seekers)
(2019)
Malawi
Telephone system:
Malawi
general assessment: rudimentary; 2 fixed-line and 3 mobile-cellular
operators govern the market; some mobile services to rural areas; in a
resolution to discourage crime the regulatory has imposed SIM card
registration since 2018; 50 licensed ISPs; DSL services are available;
LTE services are available (2018)
Broadcast media:
radio is the main broadcast medium; privately owned Zodiak radio has
the widest national broadcasting reach, followed by state -run radio;
numerous private and community radio stations broadcast in cities and
towns around the country; the largest TV network is government -
owned, but at least 4 private TV networks broadcast in urban areas;
relays of multiple international broadcasters are available (2019)
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Internet users:
total: 9,220
Transportation
7Q(2016)
Airports
32 (2013)
total: 7 (2017)
total: 25 (2013)
Railways:
Roadways:
Waterways:
700 km (on Lake Nyasa [Lake Malawi] and Shire River) (2010)
Death rate:
7.7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.)
Population distribution:
population density is highest south of Lake Nyasa
Urbanization:
urban population: 17.2% of total population (2019)
rate of urbanization: 4.19% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major urban areas - population:
1.075 million LILONGWE (capital), 905,000 Blantyre-Limbe (2019)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
Malawi
55-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2018 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth:
18.9 years (2015/16 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29
Maternal mortality rate:
349 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 42.1 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 48.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 35.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.2 years
male: 60.2 years
female: 64.3 years (2018 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.43 children born/woman (2018 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate:
59.2% (2015/16)
Drinking water source:
improved:urban: 95.7% of population
rural: 89.1% of population
total: 90.2% of population
unimproved:urban: 4.3% of population
rural: 10.9% of population
total: 9.8% of population (2015 est.)
Current Health Expenditure:
Malawi
9.3% (2015)
Physicians density:
0.02 physicians/1,000 population (2016)
Hospital bed density:
1.3 beds/1,000 population (2011)
Sanitation facility access:
improved:urban: 47.3% of population (2015 est.)
rural: 39.8% of population (2015 est.)
total: 41% of population (2015 est.)
unimproved:urban: 52.7% of population (2015 est.)
rural: 60.2% of population (2015 est.)
total: 59% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
9.2% (2018 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1 million (2018 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
13,000 (2018 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high (2016)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis
A, and typhoid fever (2016)
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever (2016)
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis (2016)
animal contact diseases: rabies (2016)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
5.8% (2016)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
Malawi
11.8% (2015)
Education expenditures:
4% of GDP (2017)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
total population: 62.1%
male: 69.8%
female: 55.2% (2015 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 11 years (2011)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
total: 8.5%
male: 6.7%
female: 10.6% (2017 est)
Government
Country name
conventional long form: Republic of Malawi
conventional short form: Malawi
local long form: Dziko la Malawi
local short form: Malawi
former: British Central African Protectorate, Nyasaland Protectorate,
Nyasaland
Government type:
Malawi
presidential republic
Capital:
name: Lilongwe
geographic coordinates: 13 58 S, 33 47 E
Administrative divisions:
28 districts; Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitip a, Dedza,
Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Likoma, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi,
Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Neno, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay,
Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Phalombe, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo,
Zomba
Independence:
6 July 1964 (from the UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 6 July (1964); note - also called Republic Day
since 6 July 1966
Constitution:
history: previous 1953 (preindependence), 1966; latest drafted January
to May 1994, approved 16 May 1994, entered into force 18 May 1995
amendments: proposed by the National Assembly; passage of
amendments affecting constitutional articles including the sovereignty
and territory of the state, fundamental constitutional principles, human
rights, voting rights, and the judiciary requires majority approval in a
referendum and majority approval by the Assembly; passage of other
amendments requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the
Assembly; amended several times, last in 2017 (2018)
Legal system:
mixed legal system of English common law and customary law;
judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Appeal
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt
jurisdiction
Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
Malawi
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of
Malawi
dual citizenship recognized: no
residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Arthur Peter MUTHARIKA (since 31 May
2014); Vice President Everton CHIMULIRENJI (since 28 May 2019;
note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Arthur Peter MUTHARIKA (since 31
May 2014); Vice President Everton CHIMULIRENJI (since 28 May
2019)
cabinet: Cabinet named by the president
elections/appointments: president directly elected by simple majority
popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election
last held on 21 May 2019 (next to be held in May 2024)
election results: Peter MUTHARIKA elected president; percent of vote
- Peter MUTHARIKA (DPP) 38.6%, Lazarus CHAKWERA (MCP)
35.4%, Saulos CHILIMA (UTM) 20.2%, Atupele MULUZI (UDF)
4.7%, other 3.1%
Legislative branch:
description: unicameral National Assembly (193 seats; members
directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote
to serve 5-year terms)
elections: last held on 21 May 2019 (next to be held in May 2024)
election results: percent of vote by party - n/a; seats by party - DPP 62,
MCP 55, UDF 10, PP 5, other 5, independent 55, vacant 1;
composition - men 161, women 32, percent of women 16.6%
Judicial branch:
highest courts: Supreme Court of Appeal (consists of the chief justice
and at least 3 judges)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice
appointed by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly;
Malawi
other judges appointed by the president upon the recommendation of
the Judicial Service Commission, which regulates judicial officers;
judges serve until age 65
subordinate courts: High Court; magistrate courts; Industrial Relations
Court; district and city traditional or local cou rts
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [Peter MUTHARIKA]
Malawi Congress Party or MCP [Lazarus CHAKWERA]
Peoples Party or PP [Joyce BANDA]
United Democratic Front or UDF [Atupele MULUZI]
United Transformation Movement or UTM [Saulos CHILIMA]
International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, C, CD, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC,
IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA,
MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU
(NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
Ambassador Edward Yakobe SAWERENGERA (since 16 September
2016)
chancery: 2408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 721-0270
FAX: [1] (202) 721-0288
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert SCOTT (since 6 August 2019)
telephone: 265 (0) 1773166
embassy: 16 Jomo Kenyatta Road, Lilongwe 3
mailing address: P.O. Box 30016, Lilongwe 3, Malawi
FAX: 265 (0) 1770471
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green with a
radiant, rising, red sun centered on the black band; black represents
Malawi
the native peoples, red the blood shed in their struggle for freedom,
and green the color of nature; the rising sun represents the hope of
freedom for the continent of Africa
National symbol(s):
lion; national colors: black, red, green