Page 431 - Volume 2_CHANGES_merged_with links

Community Economic Development

‘ubuntu’ - 'I Am Because We Are'

product. The actual product shape being determined according to which mould is being
used.

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Malawi & Import Substitution

Summary
● Despite decades of International Aid, the Malawi Economy is still very dependent on
agriculture.

● A 2009 World Bank report quoted below highlights how (in 2009) much of the Aid given to
Malawi was being used to meet current needs and not as an investment for Economic
Development.

● Import Substitute Industrialisation as implemented across much of newly independent
Africa in the 1960s, 70s and 80s largely failed because of underlying fundamental
weaknesses such as a lack of skilled labour. The situation today is very different.
● Contrary to the pessimism of the 2009 World Bank report quoted below (which seems to
focus on Malawi's international export potential more in terms of needing access to coastal
ports) , Malawi is reasonably well placed to become a regional exporter of manufactured
goods

○ Malawi ports on Lake Nyasa provide direct access to Tanzania and Mozambique
○ Lake Nyasa is some 350 km / 220 miles from Lake Tanganyika which provides
further access to Zambia, DRC and Burundi.
● Malawi's geographical location, together with its low rating for investment risk, almost
certainly act to prevent any significant inward investment unless it is heavily supported by
International Aid donors.
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About Malawi

“ Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa
that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to
the north and north-east, and Mozambique surrounding on the east, south and south-

west. Malawi spans over 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi) and has an estimated population of
18,143,217 Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa, takes up about a third of Malawi's

area.
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... in 1891 the area was colonised by the British. In 1953 Malawi, then known as
Nyasaland, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, became a protectorate within the semi-

independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Federation was dissolved in
1963. In 1964 the protectorate over Nyasaland was ended and Nyasaland became an