Malawi: A champion of intra-African trade

Malawi ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in January 2021, and the country’s leaders have been outspoken about the need for member states to move quickly towards implementing a single African market. The country developed its AfCFTA implementation strategy in 2021. Most recently Malawi submitted its reviewed market access offer which allows it to participate in the second phase of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative – which is a test for countries, evaluating their frameworks and readiness to engage in trade under the agreement.

In 2020, Malawi published its long-term development plan – Malawi 2063 – which is aligned with the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063 (a development blueprint to achieve inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development across the African continent by 2063).

Malawi 2063 sets out three pillars to achieve inclusive wealth and self-reliance – agricultural productivity and commercialisation; industrialisation; and urbanisation.

Growing Malawi’s capacity to benefit from the AfCFTA

Malawi has been a vocal champion of intra-African trade as a member of the AU and the Southern African Development Community.

The country’s biggest economic driver is its agricultural sector, which largely produces maize as a staple food crop and some cash crops, including tobacco. According to the World Bank, about 85% of Malawians depend on the country’s agricultural sector. The participation of women in Malawi’s agriculture is significant – at around 60%.

Malawi’s fast-growing services sector is becoming a key contributor to GDP. According to World Bank data, the services sector has accounted for as much as 53% of Malawi’s GDP in recent years. A notable aspect of Malawi’s services sector is its potential for export.

Services exports from Malawi include tourism services, as well as business services in the financial and telecommunications sectors.

With commercial agriculture comprising only 7% of agriculture in Malawi, a key priority of the government has been to help farmers move beyond subsistence.

By opening up the African market, the AfCFTA is a major opportunity for Malawi to realise its economic growth potential.

Malawi’s fast-developing services sector holds significant potential for driving economic growth and diversification, amid the increasing export opportunities available through regional trade agreements like the AfCFTA.

How GIZ is supporting Malawi’s implementation of the AfCFTA

In Malawi, the AfCFTA team works closely with the GIZ’s programme to promote income and jobs in rural areas. Key activities include:

Providing technical support to Malawi’s Ministry of Trade and Industry on preparations for Trade in Goods, Trade in Services and Phase II (Intellectual property rights, investment, and competition policy) negotiations

Providing training around rules of origin (customs criteria around where a product is made)

Supporting women’s business associations through the ITC SheTrades initiative to develop gender-sensitive policy recommendations for the implementation of the AfCFTA

Building the capacity of the private sector to comply with regional and international standards for exports.

What we have achieved so far:

Stronger structures to facilitate AfCFTA implementation and support to the National AfCFTA Implementation Committee

Review of Malawi’s Market Access Offer

Improved framework conditions to implement commitments for trade in goods and services: Capacity building for Malawi Revenue Authority on AfCFTA Rules of Origin Manual and Capacity building for the Technical Working Group on Trade in Services

Improved private sector, women, youth and civil society involvement in the AfCFTA negotiation and implementation process.

Positions reached on Phase II negotiation topics: Investment, Competition Policy, Digital Trade

Helped with preparations for implementing trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, in the context of the AfCFTA.

Supported Malawi’s participation at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 and 2023

“To make intra-African trade a reality, we must make our border procedures intra-African, our transport infrastructure intra-African, our bus and airline routes intra-African, electricity distribution intra-African, our fibre and broadband connectivity intra-African, our investment intra-African, our industrialisation and urbanisation intra-African, and our shops intra-African. Africa cannot be a free-trade area until us member states remove the obstacles that hinder Africans from trading freely.”

– Niger President Mohamed Bazoum, speaking at the African Union Extraordinary Summit on Industrialisation and Economic Diversification in 2022

Facts and figures

The AfCFTA will help Malawi boost its intra-African trade, which currently accounts for a relatively small proportion of the country’s imports and exports.

Export of goods(2022):
USD 899 Million

Import of goods (2020):
USD 1.586 Billion

Export of services (2022):
USD 351 Million

Import of services (2020):
USD 1.289 Billion

Our partners in Malawi

Ministry of Trade and Industry

Malawi Investment and Trade Centre

Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry

Malawi Revenue Authority

National Association of Businesswomen

COMESA Federation of Women in Business

Competition and Fair Trading Commission

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