• One of Malawi's first solar energy project reaches financial close
• Solar project has 'life changing' impact in rural Malawi
• Construction begins on 66 MW solar park in Malawi

• Malawi opposes EU's planned tobacco curbs
• Malawi child tobacco workers exposed to nicotine
• Malawi: Highest deforestation rate in the southern African region

---

Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

One of Malawi's first solar energy project reaches financial close
20 December 2019 - One of Malawi's first solar projects has reached financial close after attracting investment volume totaling $67 million USD. Initial site works have begun in Nkhotakota, and construction of the first phase is targeted for completion by March 2020. Once complete, the project will add 46 MW of clean energy to the local power supply. (more)

Solar project has 'life changing' impact in rural Malawi
21 January 2019 - A solar power project to connect villages in Malawi has had a 'life-changing' impact for rural communities. The initiative, led by Strathclyde University (in Glasgow, Scotland) researchers, has seen affordable energy supply businesses set up in four villages. ... Two schools in Mandrade and Gola, with a combined pupil roll of more than 12,000, are now also supplied by solar energy, along with two health clinics. (more)

Construction begins on 66 MW solar park in Malawi
6 December 2018 - Malawi's President Peter Mutharika officially launched the construction of the 66 MW solar PV plant on Monday (6 December). According to local government-run Malawi News Agency, MANA, the project will be installed on a 160 hectare surface and will comprise 244,000 solar panels. It is expected to become operational within five months, according to the President. (more)

Malawi's economy to grow by 5.4 pct in 2015: central bank
23 September 2015 - Malawi's economy is seen expanding by 5.4 percent in 2015 and 6.5 percent in 2016 after a 6.0 percent growth in 2014, with positive growth in most industries expected to continue, the central bank said on Wednesday, 23 September. (more)

Malawi bans child marriage, lifts minimum age to 18
17 February 2015 - Malawi has passed a law banning child marriage, raising the minimum age to 18 in a country where half of girls end up as child brides. Women rights campaigners hailed the move as 'a great day for Malawian girls' and said the law would help boost development in one of the world's poorest countries. (more)

Diversity at the heart of Malawi
14 December 2013 - Malawi is known as 'The Heart of Africa' thanks to its beauty and diversity of lifestyles, cultures, and landscapes. The country shares a border with Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique and is one of Africa's smallest nations. Being landlocked has made Malawi hidden from the rest of the world and preserved from mass tourism. This means the country offers its visitors an untouched, beautiful, natural and peaceful experience. (more)

Malawi: President Joyce Banda cuts own salary
3 October 2012 - Malawi President Joyce Banda announced that she will take a 30 per cent pay cut to show that she will sacrifice personally as part of her government's austerity measures. Banda and Vice-President Khumbo Kachali will both cut their salaries by 30 per cent, but Banda said she will not force the rest of her cabinet to do so, saying it was up to them to choose. Banda confirmed that her government will sell the controversial Presidential jet in two weeks. She called the jet wasteful. (more)

Malawi's donors pledge nearly $500 million in budget aid
15 June 2012 - Malawi's donors have pledged $496 million in budget support for the 2012/13 financial year, more than double pledges for the previous year's budget, Finance Minister Ken Lipenga said on Friday. New President Joyce Banda has tried to win Western support by rolling back Mutharika legislation seen as suppressing human rights. She has also sought to increase spending on social programmes. (more)

Malawi: Online learning inspires refugees
10 April 2012 - Recently there has been a growing recognition of the benefits that higher education can bring, not just to individual refugees, but to the vast reconstruction needs of countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and the DRC, which will require a new generation of teachers and other professionals when peace finally comes. A key element of the education strategy released by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is to make use of internet technologies and partnerships with academic institutions to reach much larger numbers of refugees through distance learning. (more)

Little dresses bring hope and friendship to Malawi
20 December 2011 - Thobola, Malawi is a simple town perched on a hill overlooking a green valley. Most people live in small, thatched-roof huts, pump their water from a well, and only have basic nourishment. Still, despite their lack of traditional western resources, the children's smiles are radiant and their singing is contagious. In Thobola, a brand-new, handmade dress is not just a piece of clothing. It's a symbol of hope and a gesture of friendship from women 8,000 miles away. (more)

---

Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Malawi opposes EU's planned tobacco curbs
15 March 2013 - The European Union's plans for tough new anti-smoking rules would break international trade rules, Malawi has told the World Trade Organization, signalling a potential legal challenge from the developing world. Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, is concerned that EU plans to make cigarettes less attractive to new smokers will hurt a sector which provides more than 60 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings, according to a WTO survey in 2010. Malawi was one of nine countries -- including Indonesia, Mexico, Cuba, and the Philippines -- to voice concerns about the EU's plans. (more)

Malawi child tobacco workers exposed to nicotine
24 August 2009 - Children picking tobacco in the fields of Malawi for consumers far beyond the African country's borders are being poisoned as they absorb up to two cigarette packs' worth of nicotine each day, a children's rights organization said Monday. The 'extremely high levels of nicotine poisoning' produces not only nausea, headaches, dizziness, difficulty in breathing, and other symptoms but 'long-lasting changes in brain structure and function,' London-based Plan International said in a report. It noted that large-tobacco production has shifted from the United States to developing countries like Malawi, where 'children are being exposed to exploitative and hazardous working conditions.' More than 78,000 children, some as young as 5, work on tobacco estates across the southern African country, some up to 12 hours a day for less than 1.7 cents an hour and without protective clothing. (more)

Malawi: Highest deforestation rate in the southern African region
8 July 2006 - Chopping down the forests for charcoal and fuel wood seems so shortsighted, but until there are alternative sources of energy for Malawi's rural poor, the destruction will continue. (more)

Malawi's Vice-President charged with treason
30 April 2006 - Malawi's Vice-President, arrested on treason charges, is accused of plotting to assassinate President Bingu wa Mutharika, a top government minister said Saturday. (more)

Malawi leader declares state of disaster
15 October 2005 - A worsening food crisis threatening millions of people prompted Malawi's President on Saturday to declare the impoverished African nation a 'disaster area' and call for more international aid. President Mutharika had ignored earlier calls from the opposition and civil society leaders to declare a national disaster, which ensures that national resources are mobilized to fight the crisis and helps alert foreign donors. (more)

Malawi: Report reveals that trade liberalization has increased poverty levels
30 September 2005 - A new report by the Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) analysed the impact of various trade liberalization policies on producers of the country's major crops (tobacco, maize, and cotton) and found that small acreage farmers have been adversely affected. This is undermining the food security of the poor, the report warned. (more)

Malawi President resigns from ruling party
5 February 2005 - Malawi's president resigned from the ruling party on Saturday, blaming party members for condoning political graft and for blocking his drive to end corruption. 'I am not happy to see Malawi being ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world,' he said. 'A few individuals in government have grown rich within the past 10 years while millions remain poor.' (more)

Malawi intelligence agents suspected in plot
8 January 2005 - President Bingu wa Mutharika dissolved the country's intelligence network Friday following claims that some agents were involved in an alleged plot to assassinate him. Wa Mutharika said he forgave the plotters and dropped all charges against them. (more)