While Malawi is backing away from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the International Monetarym Fund (IMF) has outlined how Malawi would benefit from the development.

Malawi’s gains from tariff eradication and non-tariff barriers (NTB) reduction could increase to 8.9%, according to a report by IMF, titled The African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Welfare Gains Estimates from a General Equilibrium Model.

Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) chief executive officer Chancellor Kaferapanjira said local businesses are not yet ready for the AfCFTA due to lack of competitiveness, citing that Malawi already struggles with power outages.

Meanwhile Malawi is still dodging a sister agreement, known as the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), which is a proposed African free trade agreement ( between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC). According to the National Working Group on Trade and Policy, the TFTA is Malawi’s recipe for low wages and low employment, then poverty. “Too much roads without economic activities or with activities that have less value as is case now means that our development capital benefits imports which is GNP for other countries whose imports we consume” said Changaya, the group’s chairperson.