Malawi Country Profile

Environment, Natural Resources and Extractive Industry

Individual Corruption

As the main consumers of charcoal, the urban poor in Malawi bear the burden of the price increase due to bribes paid to traffic police or other public servants at checkpoints or road blocks. According to International Institute for Environment and Development 2007, bribes constitute up to one-fifth of the price of charcoal.

Business Corruption

Malawi is the world's fifth largest tobacco producer and tobacco accounts for 70% of the country's export income. Reportedly, the tobacco leaf-buying companies, Limbe Leaf and Alliance One, control policy-making committees that advise the Malawi government on tobacco related trade policy. Malawi's Anti Corruption Bureau reports of alleged collusion between Limbe Leaf and Alliance One over prices at tobacco markets. Malawi's tobacco industry is marked by the use of child labour in the tobacco plantations.

Political Corruption

Charcoal, which is the main source of energy for the urban poor, is not a regulated and taxed commodity. If it were, the government would have substantial revenues. Instead it has become a means for public officials to extract private wealth through bribery.

Frequency

International Institute for Environment and Development: Charcoal: the reality - A study of charcoal consumption, trade and production in Malawi 2007:
- Bribes by public officials on charcoal constitute 12-20% of the final price.