Frequently Asked Questions

• Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC)

• An Exporter will fill up a form which will be obtained at Malawi Investment and Trade Center
• A filled form will  be submitted with a copy of a business registration certificate
• An equivalent of $150 dollars as a processing fee will be paid which is non- refundable

A certificate will be ready within a minimum of 5 working days.  (An exporter should take note that the certificate runs for a period of one year of which after expiring, an exporter is supposed to re- new so that he can continue enjoying the benefits.)

• Availability of Foreign Exchange in the country
• Micro and macro-economic growth – Business growth
• Social and economic development of the country  - creation of employment
• Strengthening of local competition - Companies becoming competitive on the local market before exporting
• Gaining shares on the world market
• Reduction in unit cost because of increased production to meet foreign demand
• Offsetting the seasonal demand – being able to sale when a product is off-season on the domestic market
• Sale of excess capacity
• Acquisition of new knowledge and experience
• Expansion of product life cycles
• Spreading of risk because of being able to sale in multiple markets

• 22 percent tax allowance on export proceeds excluding   unmanufactured   tobacco, tea, coffee and cane sugar.
• Transport tax allowance of 25 percent of international transport costs quoted CIF.
• Duty drawback on imported raw materials including packaging materials made locally for manufacturers in bond.
• No duties and Value Added Taxes on imports of capital equipment used mainly in the manufacturing of exports.
• No excise taxes and Value Added Taxes on purchases of raw materials and packaging materials made in the country for manufacturing in bond.

• No withholding tax on dividends.
• No duty or capital requirement on capital equipment and raw materials.
• No excise taxes on purchases of raw materials and packaging materials made in Malawi.
• No VAT on inputs and export produce/manufacture

Clink this link to read more about Malawi's Export Products

Yes we have contacts for International markets. Click the link below for more.

• International Markets for Malawi's Export Products

Click this link to read more about export procedures and documentation

• Financing for exports
• Red-tape
• Language
• Scarcity of foreign exchange
• Un-competitive pricing
• Non-Tariff barriers (NTBs)
• Poor Quality and poor packaging
• High transportation costs
• High production costs
• Low production capacities
• Lack of Market Information
• Issues of product modification to meet security, safety and other import restriction measures.

Malawi produces a wide range of Traditional export products such as tobacco, tea,sugar and cotton as traditional exports. Malawi also exports non-traditional products in the categories of agricultural, manufactured products, mining, services and many more. The main markets for Malawian Products are within the SADC and   COMESA region, European Union (EU), America through the AGOA and Asia.

• USA (Coffee, Sugar, Tobacco, etc.)
• EU Countries (Tea, Sugar, Chilies, Processed products, Tobacco, Handcrafts, etc.)
• INDIA (Pulses, etc.)
• CHINA (Pulses, sesame seeds, etc.)
• SADC Countries and products to export (Tea, Sugar/nuts, processed products, Pharmaceuticals, Handcrafts, etc.)
• SADC countries are:  South Africa, Botswana
• COMESA Countries (Tea, Sugar, G/nuts, processed products,    Pharmaceuticals, Handcrafts, etc.)
• COMESA countries are: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi