After two months of silence, Malawi and Zambia have finally activated the $77 million (K134.8 billion) maize deal with the first trucks hauling part of the expected grain this weekend. In an interview yesterday, Transporters Association of Malawi spokesperson Frank Banda said they have assembled 50 local transporters who will ferry a combined 100 000 MT from Chipata in Zambia to National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) silos in Lilongwe. He said: “We wanted to start the process in January 2026, but have just been called by NFRA to start now and our trucks have started leaving for Chipata.
“We expect that the trucks will start getting into the country this weekend. The deal is that all the maize has to be in the country within 30 days, but we will try as much as possible to beat that target.” However, it is not clear whether the deal involves all the 200 000 metric tonnes (MT) as sources indicated that the money paid to Zambia is about $45 million (around K78.7 billion) from the World Bank which can only buy about 100 000MT. The deal, which President Peter Mutharika sealed with his Zambian counterpart Hakainde Hichilema in September this year, was formally signed on October 22 2025 in Lilongwe by the two countries’ ministers of Agriculture.
However, it dragged due to Malawi’s delays to remit to Zambia 40 percent or about K53.9 billion ($30.8 million) of the total cost, which was essential to start bringing the maize into the country. According to Banda, all their payments and arrangements for transportation have been done by the World Bank, allaying fears of delayed payments. Yesterday, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Fatchi Mbilizi did not respond to our questions, but is on record as having stated in October that the imports from Zambia would enable the government to sell maize at less than K50 000 per 50 kg.
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Ironically, State produce trader Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) raised the price of maize from K790 per kilogramme or K39 500 per 50 kg to K1 300 or K65 000 per 50kg. Earlier, Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito envisaged that once the Zambia maize arrives, people will have more choices on where to buy and government will be able to revise the Admarc pricing. Meanwhile, NFRA has announced that from December 31 2025, it will resume the purchase of local maize across the country. In a statement last evening, NFRA said the maize will be purchased at K1 100 per kilogramme (equivalent to K 55 000 per 50kg bag) at all designated NFRA depots.
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