Uranium | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast | News

Uranium prices inching toward $30

Uranium | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast | News: Uranium increased to 28.90 USD/LBS on Monday January 7 from 28.80 USD/LBS in the previous trading day. Historically, Uranium reached an all time high of 143 in May of 2007 and a record low of 7.10 in December of 2000.

Businesses focus on regional markets | The Times Group

Businesses focus on regional markets | The Times Group: A study by the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has revealed that local businesses are mostly focusing their exports on the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).

According to the 2018 Malawi Business Climate Survey (MBCS), businesses indicated that both Sadc and Comesa remain great opportunities for businesses compared to regions beyond.

Private sector credit soars | The Times Group

Private sector credit soars | The Times Group: Commercial banks credit to the private sector continued to grow in October, rising by K17.5 billion to hit K464.7 billion.

This is compared to a growth of K7.7 billion and K7.8 billion in September 2018 and October 2017, respectively.

Rare Earth Metals Market growing at 9% CAGR up to 2024

Rare Earth Metals Market growing at 9% CAGR up to 2024: HomenewsRare Earth Metals Market growing at 9% CAGR up to 2024| China Minmetals Rare Earth Co. Ltd., Neo Performance Materials,
Taking into account the potential that this vertical holds, rare earth metals market giants have been making major investments in numerous drilling programs across several geographies. Validating the aforementioned fact, a few days before, the Canada headquartered mineral exploration and development company, Mkango Resources Ltd. took a step forward to carry out drilling in the East-African country, Malawi.Following the lines of numerous industry verticals, rare earth metals market has also succumbed to the vast expanse of technology, emerging as a pivotal sphere of the polymers space. In the current scenario, numerous electronic components ranging from computer hard drives and cellular phones to electronic displays and hybrid vehicles have been deploying rare earth metals

Our Comment on Goodall Giondwe's  elusive 7 percent

Our Minister of Finance has been singlehandedly aiming at 7percent growth which he has over the years claimed was just around the conner

On may May 18, 2017, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said Malawi’s economic growth was forecast at 7 percent this year from 5.1 percent in 2016, helped by a recovery in the agriculture sector, on Thursday.

By the end of the year, the Minister had lowered expectations but he was still upbeat about the country registering economic growth of over five percent despite acknowledging the possible threat to the same created by extended power outages. 

On  Malawi  21, 2018 Finance Minister, Goodall Gondwe, pronounced in the 2018/19 budget statement that  GDP would   grow 4.1 pct this year

In the letter of intent sent to the IMF on October 30th, 2018, Goodall Gondwe wrote: “Economic growth is expected to accelerate from just above 3 percent in 2018 to around 4 percent in 2019 and to 6-7 percent over the medium term.”

 A few months later the 4 percent had morphed into 7 percent. On January 3, 2019, the Minister expressed hope that the economy would grow by at least seven percent in 2019. The economic growth will be propelled by the stability in “macroeconomic fundamentals” in 2018.

Why is the Minister obsessed with 7 percent?  The reason is that only a 7 percent growth rate will make a dent in the immense poverty in Malawi. As the Minister stated on May 20th 2017: “There will be others who will be apprehensive about this objective and will be arguments as to why this objective is too ambitious. However, the target of growth of 7 percent per year is an ambition that is not based on complicated mathematical economics but it has to be attained if the aspirations of Malawians are to be satisfied”.

 Anything less means poverty is growing. We haven’t come anywhere close to 7 percent during his current reign as Minister of Finance.

Government secures $200 million for Mzuzu, Chileka airports | The Times Group

Government secures $200 million for Mzuzu, Chileka airports | The Times Group: Minister of Finance, Goodall Gondwe, has said the government has secured $200 million from China to be used for construction of Mzuzu International Airport at Lusangadzi close to Mzuzu City.

Gondwe said part of the grant would be used for rehabilitating Chileka International Airport in Blantyre.

Goodall sees 7 percent GDP growth in 2019 | The Times Group

Goodall sees 7 percent GDP growth in 2019 | The Times Group: By Chimwemwe Mangazi: In a typical case of dreaming in colour, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe has expressed hope that the economy would grow by at least seven percent in 2019. The growth projection comes at a time global economic think-tanks have predicted that economic growth would remain subdued this year.

Our Comments on Economic Growth

In recent speeches, our President has claimed that the economy's performance has been exemplary. Available data shows quite the opposite (See graph). Under Muluzi the economy performed terribly. Bingu substantially improved the economy only to leave it in shambles with negative growth in the final year. Joyce Banda took drastic and unpopular measures and improved the growth rate. Since Peter Mutharika took over we have had two years of negative growth rates and anemic growth rates after. There is really nothing to show for now. Our advice:  Rather than campaign on his non-existent success, he should focus on future plans.

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Business confidence inches up in 2018 | The Times Group

Business confidence inches up in 2018 | The Times Group: A latest Business Confidence Index (BCI) by the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has revealed that industry players’ belief in the economy slightly inched up in 2018.

This was despite the local economy facing continued challenges such as frequent power blackouts and high cost of capital in the year.

The BCI in 2018 was calculated at 69.5 percent against 67 percent recorded in 2017. This shows that business confidence improved by 2.5 percentage points in 2018 compared to 2017.

High cost of finance tops 2018 business obstacles | The Times Group

High cost of finance tops 2018 business obstacles | The Times Group: A latest Malawi Business Climate Survey (MBCS) by the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has revealed that the cost of finance was the biggest challenge of doing business in Malawi in 2018. The revelation comes barely a few weeks after Parliament pended the Interest Rate Capping Bill aimed at limiting the amount of interest borrowers could pay on loans. The survey, released at the weekend, shows that the cost of finance recorded a score of 8.8 points out of 10.