NPC Driving Malawi’s Transformation: Milestones, Challenges, and Ambitions for a Brighter Future
The National Planning Commission, at the helm of transforming Malawi in line with the Global 2063 Development Agenda, is leaving no stone unturned in formulating new development policies, laws and strategies for the country. NPC’s Public Relations and Communications Manager, Thom Khanje, articulates what strides the commission has so far made towards fulfilling its mandates.
What is the mandate of the National Planning Commission (NPC)?
Under the NPC Act of 2017, the NPC has two main mandates and these are to develop evidence-based medium- and long-term development plans for Malawi, taking into account the country’s resource potential and comparative advantages and to oversee the implementation of the development plans, including spearheading the formulation of innovative and progressive flagship projects that can accelerate the country’s socio-economic transformation.
How is Malawi progressing towards achieving the 2063 agenda goals?
In the first year, 2022, of the Malawi 2063 First 10-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1), Malawi has made strides in putting in place the requisite institutional and policy frameworks for the effective and efficient implementation of the development plan. Examples include the putting into operation of the MIP-1 Pillar and Enabler Coordination Groups (PECGs) that bring together both state and non-state actors to jointly prioritise interventions and track their implementation. There has also been progress in reviewing and developing new policies, laws and strategies such as the land, seed and fertilizer policies and laws. The Special Economic Zones bill and Industrial Policy are at advanced stages including the launch of the Tourism Master Plan as well as the Secondary Cities Plan amongst others. However, in the first year of MIP-1 the implementation has been slow in meeting the first-year targets. While implementation of about 80% of interventions that were to start between 2021 and 2022 commenced, 60% of them were either off track or registering very slow progress in all the three Pillars of Agricultural Productivity and Commercialization, Industrialization, and Urbanization including the critical enabler of ‘Private Sector Dynamism’. This has mainly been due to both exogenous shocks and, in general, the nation’s low implementation capacities as well as lack of urgency in executing the plan in certain cases.
What were some of NPC’s notable successes in 2023?
In the year 2023, NPC achieved a number of notable milestones that will support the implementation of MIP-1 and MW2063. Some of the main highlights include the 2023 National Development Conference (NDC) held in February. It was the third in the series but the first after the launch of the MIP-1 and hence was an opportune time for Malawians to reflect on the progress of the first phase interventions operationalizing the MW2063 through the MIP-1. During the NDC, which was graced by top state and non-state actors led by His Excellency the State President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, leaders of Pillars and Enabler Coordination Groups (PECGs) presented their respective priority interventions to the President and the nation, for execution in the 2023/24 financial year.
NPC conducted annual review of the MIP-1 culminating into production of the first MIP-1 Annual Progress Report. The Report presented the achievements made in the first year of implementing MIP-1 and towards the realisation of the SDGs.
During the period, the NPC developed the MIP-1 Dashboard to provide timely tracking of progress in the execution of the MIP-1 so that remedial actions can be taken timeously. The Dashboard was showcased to the President and all participants to the 2022/23 National Development Conference (NDC).
The National Research Agenda (NRA) was launched on 22nd March, 2023 to support the realisation of Malawi 2063 through targeted research, technology and innovation. The NRA will guide researchers, academic institutions, think-tanks, local and international research and development stakeholders in generating knowledge, technologies and innovations that will build a knowledge-based economy for Malawi, towards inclusive wealth creation and self-reliance as outlined in the MW2063. The agenda has been developed through close collaboration between the National Planning Commission (NPC) and the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) with technical and financial support from Government and UNICEF.
The inaugural National Evaluation Week took place during the week of 15th March, 2023 as a way of joining hands with various stakeholders to strengthen M&E capacities in the country. An effective monitoring and evaluation policy as well as capacities are a prerequisite for the successful implementation of the Malawi 2063 and use of evaluation results if Malawi is to graduate into a middle-income economy by 2030. The M&E week is the beginning of a journey of reflection on how efforts can be consolidated in building capacities at generating and using monitoring and evaluation to improve in all national development programming and implementation. The two-day conference provided space for intensive training on technical aspects of M&E, the exchange of experiences in M&E practice, where presentations, expert-managed labs, and panel discussions were used to deliver content including developing a cadre of youthful M&E experts.
What have been your major challenges?
The main challenges faced during the year include inadequate resources to fully support administrative obligations hence limiting the scope and speed of NPC’s operations especially in relation to such provisions as office equipment and vehicles which are critical for a conducive office operating environment.
Slow functionality of the Integrated Finance Management Information System (IFMIS) continued to affect the timely flow of resources and hence execution of some of the planned interventions.
With the emphasis on implementation oversight, there was increased demand for NPC presence and technical guidance in all sectors of the development space. This has overstretched the NPC staff given the lean workforce.
Misunderstanding of the NPC’s role and mandate with some stakeholders tending to slow the drive towards achieving the MIP-1 milestones.
What plans does the Commission have for 2024?
The centrality of the Commission’s focus in the road ahead will be on scaling-up efforts around the implementation oversight role in order to accelerate implementation of the MIP-1. The main target will be to steer efforts of the state and non-state actors towards wealth creation by supporting a dynamic private sector environment and invoking the developmental state philosophy in strong alliance with the private sector where market failures exist so the country can deal with the three interlinked challenges of low fiscal space, low forex generation and unsustainable debt, at the shortest time possible. The bigger picture remains the medium-term goals of attaining the MIP-1 milestones of graduating into a middle-income economy and meeting most of the SDGs by 2030. NPC will hence work closely with leads of the Pillar and Enabler Coordination Groups (PECGs), Office of the President and Cabinet, the Presidential Delivery Unit, Ministry of finance and the Department of Economic Planning and Development in having bilateral engagements around key catalytic interventions that are registering slow progress. More importantly, the NPC will look towards a multi-stakeholder approach in ensuring a coordinated approach by both state and non-state actors to implementation of development projects that will ensure that resources are not being spread thinly across less impactful interventions. The NPCs strive for excellence will continue to be demonstrated throughout its programmatic operations towards a knowledge-based economy that should overall steer the economy towards achievement of wealth creation and self-reliance in line with the Malawi 2063 aspirations and MIP-1 milestones, at the shortest time possible.
Who are some of your major partners and what are their roles?
The Malawi government is obviously our biggest partner as the main implementer of Malawi’s development programme. The NPC is also extremely indebted to its partners, both state and non-state, who continue to provide different forms of support including financial, technical, in-kind, and morally. These include European Union and the United Nations family, particularly the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) who are our strongest and most reliable partners. NPC also continues to have a very valuable and reliable partner in the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI) working through the MwAPATA Institute and Michigan State University (MSU) who have proven to be our reliable partners. Others that have impacted the work of the NPC during the past year include: The Ministry of Information and Digitalisation and all MDAs.
What are some of the similar institutions within the region that the Commission relates with?
Internationally, NPC is grateful for the support received from the SADC Secretariat, the SADC National Planning Entities Platform, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Chartered Cities Institute, the Legatum Institute, the Copenhagen Consensus Centre (CCC) and other partners for their support to our work, especially in the area of capacity building.
What is your message to Malawians?
It is possible to transform our country if we start believing in our abilities as a nation and work extra hard to develop our country. More important than our children are the children of our children. We owe future generations a better Malawi.
What is your last word?
The Malawi we want is possible and it depends on you and me.
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