The growing demand for Malawian value-added products in Tete, Mozambique is being affected by inconsistent and short supply.
The Tete Consular General, Wilson Moleni, said this when officials from the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) visited the mission in Tete recently to appreciate progress made in the implementation of the ‘Support to Agro-Processing Special Zone Roadmap and Promotion of Value-added Exports Project’ by Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC).
The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, which is the implementing agency of the EIF Project in Malawi, opened the Tete Consulate in February last year to facilitate trade through the MITC under EIF Project.
Moleni said Tete, which had experienced establishments of three international chain stores and supermarkets in recent past, was registering growth in demand for Malawian value-added products which unfortunately were either in short supply or the supply was intermittent.
“There is growing demand for Malawian products like Nali pepper, Sobo orange squash, Malawian liquor and beverages such as tea in hotels and supermarkets but the main challenge that the offtakers are citing is inconsistent supply of the Malawian value-added products on the market,” Moleni said.
Moleni said a surge in mining activities in Tete has created increased demand for value-added products for use by the invertors and the workforce in Tete, adding that his office would engage the cross-border traders, SMEs and middlemen or distributors to address the challenge.
Simon Hess, Coordinator-in-Charge of Malawi at the Executive Secretariat for the EIF, who was visiting Lilongwe and Tete with Eric Benoliel of the EIF Trust Fund Manager, UNOPS, to supervise and support the advancement of EIF Projects in Malawi being implemented by the Malawi government, expressed optimism that the consulate would move quickly to enhance facilitation of trade in the region.
“I am happy that there is great momentum that has been created through Tete office which we must not lose,” Hess said.
Hess said he was happy that Malawi government had expressed willingness to sustain the EIF programmes by taking over the running of the Tete Consulate when EIF would stop funding the project.
EIF is an Aid-for-Trade multi-donor project by World Trade Organization (WTO) with other donors in the name of the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations Development programme (UNDP) and other donors aimed at addressing trade-related development challenges for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
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