[{"bbox": [146, 151, 347, 177], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## Corruption and fraud"}, {"bbox": [146, 189, 1081, 455], "category": "Text", "text": "Corruption remains a major challenge for firms operating in Malawi. Corruption, fraud, bribery of public officials, illicit payments, misuse of funds, and conflicts of interest are widespread. The Anti-Corruption response in Malawi is at a critical juncture, having, on one hand, sworn promises by the ruling party to an active citizenry to decisively address grand corruption in Malawi, and on the other, relatively young and/or under-capacitated institutions. The ruling Government has, since coming into power in 2020, primarily dealt with corruption risks through creation and emboldening of a solid policy, legal and institutional framework and formalised strategies and procedures, including with regard to public finance management. Malawi has legal tools with far-reaching asset recovery regimes – both conviction- and non-conviction-based forfeiture, a confiscation fund and an asset forfeiture unit as well as an appropriate balance between prevention and law enforcement."}, {"bbox": [146, 467, 1081, 917], "category": "Text", "text": "While the existing legislative scheme is relatively solid, largely capable of delivering valuable outcomes, in terms of prevention, disruption and deterrence of corrupt and fraudulent behaviours, enforcement is insufficient and slow. Such frameworks often lend themselves to medium- to long-term effects and may not readily meet the public and political call for immediate responses. To its credit, ACB has pursued quick wins including those that may not be politically palatable in addition to medium- and long-term strategies. As a result, a number of high-profile individuals in the previous and ruling governments have resigned, been suspended, relieved of their duties and/or held in custody. The Government has also made significant progress with regard to public finance management, including with the revision of the outdated PFM act in 2022, geared to better control fraud and corruption. These efforts notwithstanding, there is a shared understanding that more is needed at the political and communication level (in particular in terms of strengthening the communication efforts of the key anticorruption institutions) and from accountability institutions in order to exhaustively address fraud and corruption. Furthermore, the solid legal framework in place is reliant on commensurate institutional and operational capacity. All accountability, oversight and law enforcement institutions face common challenges, though with variances across institutions. These common challenges include insufficient operational resourcing, inadequate ICT capabilities and specialized technical skills, and weak coordination and inter-agency collaboration at the strategic and operational levels."}, {"bbox": [146, 930, 266, 953], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## Stakeholders"}, {"bbox": [146, 969, 1081, 1182], "category": "Text", "text": "The key institutional stakeholders comprise the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre, the Malawi Bureau of Standards, the Competition and Fair Trading Commission, the Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation, the Presidential Delivery Unit, the Judiciary, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the National Audit Office, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Office of the Director of Public Officers Declarations, the Government Contracts Unit, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, the Malawi Revenue Authority, Private sector led institutions and other civil society organisations. Their respective mandates, potential roles and capacities are summarised as follows:"}, {"bbox": [146, 1194, 582, 1219], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### Stakeholders relating to Business Environment:"}, {"bbox": [146, 1225, 1129, 1589], "category": "Table", "text": "<table><thead><tr><td>Stakeholder</td><td>Mandate</td><td>Role and capacities</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI)</td><td>Responsible for developing policies that would create economic regulatory environment conducive to promoting industry, trade, and private sector development in Malawi. Also responsible for overseeing implementation of the policies by respective government departments.</td><td>Lead for the business enabling environment component. It is responsible for providing oversight to policy implementation related to trade, industry, and private sector development.</td></tr><tr><td>Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC)</td><td>A government parastatal organisation, operating under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Mandated to promote, attract,</td><td>A strategic entity for Malawi's structural transformation. Its successful execution of functions will contribute to addressing the country's</td></tr></tbody></table>"}, {"bbox": [976, 1680, 1080, 1704], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 7 of 24"}]