Having restricted imports and exports amidst border measures against spreading the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Trade has made room for imports and exports other than the usual covid-19 related products.

According to the ministry’s spokesperson Mayeso Msokera, said traders are now allowed to export after the government issues letters of credence for the products to be allowed passage and entry into the destination country. The good news after exporters in the country bemoaned losses after border restrictions slowed business. Last month, for instance, a report released by a shipping and clearing firm called Fortress Business and Logistics Consult has outlined that trade between Malawi and Mozambique has shrunk by 13%, attributed to border restrictions against the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to government’s intervention on the exports, Oxfam outlined in its policy brief, that Malawi’s trade gap is expected to worsen this year as the country intensifies focus on imports of covid-19 related items. The policy brief followed after Malawi’s trade deficit narrowed by 5.4% in 2019 as exports outweighed imports, according to figures in the 2020 Annual Economic Report compiled by the Ministry of Finance.