Economist says Malawi going the wrong way

Until recently, this impoverished southern African country of 16m people, stretched out along the shores of Lake Malawi, was a darling of international donors. Since President Bingu wa Mutharika (pictured above) came to power in 2004, the economy has flourished, with growth averaging more than 7% a year. Thanks to generous fertiliser subsidies, tobacco production, the economy’s mainstay, has soared and a food deficit has turned into a surplus. Child mortality has been halved, the HIV/AIDS pandemic (affecting 11% of the adult population) is under control and Malawi is one of just four countries in sub-Saharan Africa deemed likely to meet most of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

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