An investigation of ports that serve land-locked Malawi with regard to reduction of costs and supply chain obstacles

Malawi as a Land locked country face numerous of challenges in its supply chain networks for both imports and exports due to a number of obstacles ranging from long distances to the open sea, third-country transit regulations, poor road networks, high inland haulage costs, fragile currency, fragile external relations with neighboring countries, unreliable port infrastructures and capacities. This renders Malawian products uncompetitive on the world market compared with countries with direct access to the open seas. Over the years has continuously sought to find and develop the most direct and cost effective route to the open seas that can substantially reduce the overall cost of bring goods to Malawi considering that 55% of the total cost of the import charge constitutes the inland haulage cost. The continual search for viable options and alternatives led to the birth of this investigation to review the current port options used by Malawi, potential sea ports that could be used and also the proposed world inland port in Nsanje district on the Shire-Zambezi waterways, which can be harnessed and developed into viable options with regard to reducing the overall importation and exportation costs. It is also envisaged that the results of the investigation will add value to existing knowledge on the various challenges affecting efficient trade logistics in Malawi and ultimately form the basis for policy makers to embark on projects designed to reduce importation and exportation costs and elimination of supply chain obstacles from an informed position