President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika delivered the SONA on 13 February 2026 under the theme “The Path to Economic Recovery: Delivering a People-Centred Development”.

We welcome the honest recognition of Malawi’s deep macroeconomic challenges—low growth, high inflation, forex shortages, and fiscal strain—and the realistic targets: GDP growth rising from 2.7% (2025) to 3.8% (2026) and 4.9% (2027), with inflation expected to fall below 21%.

Positive elements ECAMA supports:

• Austerity at senior levels,     tighter spending controls, and forex reserve-building measures (gold     purchases, regulatory review)
• Stronger public finance     discipline (ghost workers, fraudulent contracts, reduced travel)
• Food-security interventions     that have helped stabilise maize prices (with calls for faster irrigation     & mega-farming progress)
• Major CDF increase to MK5     billion per constituency + digital transparency
• Structural investments: +51 MW     power, Special Economic Zones, mining exploration, rail & aviation     upgrades, health & social empowerment programmes

Areas needing more attention:

• Huge new commitments (CDF     scale-up, youth/women soft loans, disability grants) could take 13–14% of     the budget—clear trade-offs are essential
• Insufficient detail on cutting     business costs and easing regulatory burdens for the private sector
• Agricultural strategy needs     stronger focus on extension, irrigation, markets, and commercialisation     beyond mega farms
• Risks of rapid CDF expansion     (absorption, procurement, misuse) must be managed carefully
• No mention of the heavy public     debt (≈MK22.4 trillion / 89% of GDP), where interest already consumes     nearly half of domestic revenue

In short, the SONA sets out a promising recovery direction. Real progress will depend on swift, transparent implementation and addressing these gaps.

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