As section 44 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) Act of 2017 states that procurement bids should prioritize 60% indigenous black Malawians and 40% others nationalities. The Asian community feels that the arrangement sidelines them as indigenous Malawians.

The community presented their grievances to the Parliamentary Committee on Industry Trade and Tourism, represented by Rafiq Hajat, who outlined that there is segregation in terms of indigenous Malawians and non-indigenous Malawians. “There are all kinds of limitations that apply if you are deemed to be a non-indigenous Malawian now my family came here in 1870 a 150 years ago, I was born at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in 1955 now you tell me what is the difference between you and me.” he said.

On the other hand, the fuel haulage business has been facing challenges as players recently questioned the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) about the continued dominance of foreigners in the business, who are subduing local firms from profiting. This was addressed at a training workshop organized by Mera, on which members of the parliamentary committee of Natural resources brought up the matter. The Chairperson called on Mera to push the National Oil Company (Nocma) to consider fair share of business towards Malawians. The situation worsened when fuel truck drivers halted transportation, demanding an increment, while their employers wanted government to first implement the 60/40 principal before paying the drivers.

Seemingly, the common mistake is, a non-black Malawian may be considered as a foreigner. Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee, Simplex Banda, said the committee will analyse the issues raised and see the way forward.