The African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund have warned that Malawi's economy is losing ground to regional peers, according to a June 13 report by Nation Online. The financial institutions noted that the country's average economic growth rate of 1.8 percent is insufficient to match its 2.7 percent annual population growth. The report indicated that economic reform progress has stalled while inflation and public debt continue to mount, threatening Malawi's goal of becoming a lower middle-income economy by 2030.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Programme convened government and private sector stakeholders in Lilongwe on June 10 to advance a new cross-border trade project. According to a June 11 UNDP statement, the five-year regional initiative aims to support women and youth-led enterprises by improving their access to finance. The programme is designed to strengthen the local trade sector and help small business owners participate in the African Continental Free Trade Area.