Malawi's Import Ban: Protectionism Or Economic Lifeline

The Malawi government has imposed a two-year ban on the importation of several products that can be accessed or manufactured within the country.

Minister of Trade and Industry Vitumbiko Mumba’s 13 March order outlawed importing fruits and vegetables, Irish potatoes, maize flour, toothpicks, fresh cow’s milk, peanut butter, eggs, processed meats, rice, bottled water, wooden furniture, and shoes, among other items for its 21-million people.

Mumba warned of stiff penalties for those who violate the ban. The move aims to stimulate the country’s manufacturing sector and address Malawi’s severe foreign-currency shortage over the last four years created by too few exports and too many imports, leaving it struggling to raise the $50 million required to cover the monthly import bill for commodities, such as fertiliser, food, fuel and medicine. Since October 2024, a fuel shortage has caused long queues at gas stations.

In June 2023, Ralph Tseka, the country’s central bank spokesperson, warned that its reserves were nearly empty and could not cover a month’s worth of imports. From a recent peak of $319,000 in September 2024, imports dropped to $276,000 in January 2025. Meanwhile, a recent peak of $188,000 in exports in August 2024 plummeted to $67,000 in January.

Manufacturers have welcomed the import ban, seeing it as an opportunity to fill the gap in available products that the ban created.

However, others, like Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Officer Daisy Kambalame, have warned that the ban could further hinder efforts to enhance continental and regional trade, as a bulk of imported goods come from countries, such as South Africa and Zambia.

Malawi is a signatory to various continental and regional free trade agreements, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), ratified in January 2021, allowing it access to a continental market that generates a Gross Domestic Product of $3.4 trillion.