Former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Governor Charles Chuka has said that power shortages, high internet and phone charges, are a hinderance to a cashless Malawi, as these challenges keep the nation from changing to a cashless society.

Chuka presented his findings at a public lecture organised by Unicaf University titled ‘A Cashless Economy: is Africa and Malawi Ready for It?’. However, Chuka also said the country has in place a fairly advanced system which could support its migration to a cashless society. He said that the curent challenges like communication and internet costs could just be lowered, then a cashless Malawi would be on the brink. “We just need to ensure that there is access to power, phones and internet connectivity. We also need to ensure that we create more job opportunities and increase people’s chances of raising more income,” Chuka said.

Unicaf University Vice Chancellor, Joseph Kuthemba Mwale, said the lecture was organised to expose students to the concept of a cashless economy.