The railway industry performance is way behind the planned targets with revenue, traffic and freight overall performances failing to reach half of the set targets for 2011, according to a sector performance review report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The scarcity of forex is being used as a scapegoat to import large volumes of wheat flour illegally, choking the local producers who are now scaling down production as they are failing to make enough sells to sustain operations.

Security at household and company level remains a challenge in the country. Property and lives are at times at risk due to lack of security in various premises.

Silota Phiri, 71, a retired civil servant from Mwasinde Village in the area of Traditional Authority Chigaru, Blantyre, is not embarrassed to admit that the last time he ate bread was last year, when a loaf was selling at K110.

THE International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says it will assist Malawi develop the ICT industry, especially in the rural areas, to help spread socio-economic development across the country.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry will soon ban the importation of vegetables types that are produced locally in line with Chapter 18 of the Control of Goods Act, minister John Bande has said.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved US$41 million to improve the employment prospects of graduates in Malawi through training and skills development.

Tired of playing the 'land owner' with empty pockets, Blantyre City Assembly (BCA) is working on 'aggressive strategies' to tighten the screws on tenants who do not pay city rates.

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) says the freeze of funds from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has not affected its programme of connecting new customers to the national electricity grid.

Mobile phones are posing an increasing threat to local internet café operations, with some café operators acknowledging a slump in business, as customers can now easily access internet services on their handheld devices.

Eleven months down the line, the manhunt for ghost workers on government payroll is yet to yield the expected results, with no one so far arrested for causing the loss of K2 billion per year through fraudulent payments.

Malawi has not benefitted from its position as one of the world's top producers of macadamia nuts, with the crop appearing nowhere near the country's top five foreign exchange earners.

The country's top crop exports are tobacco, sugar, tea and cotton.

However, United States Development Association Foreign Agricultural Service lists Malawi among top macadamia producers together with Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Guatemala and Brazil. The country also features highly on the global Farm and Forestry Production and Marketing Profile for macadamia nuts.

Australia, with 40 percent of the world's production, is the largest producer and exporter, while South Africa is turning into a key producer with over 1.4 million juvenile trees yet to start producing and an average 934, 000 trees coming into bearing annually.

Australia, Malawi, Kenya, Guatemala, Brazil and Hawai'i have been named as the countries that have contributed towards a global surge in macadamia production. Between 1996 and 2004 alone, these countries increased the plant's production by 42 percent, with recent statistics showing that production levels continue to improve.

Statistics from the Southern African Macadamia Growers' Association show that a total of 26,123 metric tonnes of kernels was produced in 2008 by Australia, South Africa, Hawai'i, Kenya, Malawi, Guatemala, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Zimbabwe.

The current global price for macadamia nuts is US$1.5 (K290) per kilogram.

For a country facing a severe foreign currency shortage, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has revealed plans to capitalize on the country's favourite climate and 'big-producers' reputation to promote and cash on the crop.

Industry and Trade Minister, John Bande, said government now wants to capitalize on macadamia's many uses and turn the country's economic fortunes for the better.

"This is in view of the contribution the crop can make to import-substitution as well as generation of foreign exchange. Malawi has the potential to export significant volumes of macadamia nuts, particularly if the country employs organic means of production," Bande said.

Bande said the nut has so many advantages, among them the fact that it can be eaten raw, used as an input in bakery, confectionary, chocolate making, and cosmetic industries in the production of skin care products. Because of this, he said his ministry has been active in promoting the production of the nuts.

"The following are some of the activities the ministry has accomplished: Five macadamia cooperatives have been duly registered and have since formed their own union comprising of macadamia nuts producing cooperatives. The five cooperatives have also commenced exporting macadamia nuts under Fair Trade arrangements.

"The Ministry is currently in the process of registering one macadamia cooperative society in Mwanza District. This cooperative society will be duly registered once all preparations and capacity development of leaders and members are completed."

He added that the ministry, with technical assistance from the Flanders Technical Assistance Agreement, provided support to a Thyolo-based macadamia cooperative society on good manufacturing practices to enable it export its products to the European Union.

"The next steps to be undertaken shall include assistance focusing on value addition so that the macadamia nut value-chain is strengthened and benefits the economy accordingly," Bande said.

Passengers should brace themselves for tough times ahead. Minibus Owners Association of Malawi (MOAM) has said passengers should not expect any mercy from it following a hike in insurance cover costs because the association is in "business and not charity".

Those wishing to purchase luxury household items had better prepare to pay more as prices on cookers, sofas, freezers, washers and others have climbed significantly from last year across shops that stock these items. Some retailers said this was due to the continued loss of value of the local currency, as most of these items are imported from China, Dubai and South Africa

Malawi's major cities are experiencing a boom in the number of lodges operating in residential areas, with Blantyre seeing an upswing in the last year.

Sweet beer, locally known as thobwa, has emerged as the number one threat to fizzy drinks in Chikhwawa district, with traders attributing its prolific rise on the market to the scarcity of soft drinks and pockets of hunger that have hit the district.

The Malawi economy could create a niche among top African countries that benefit significantly from service exports, but unfriendly foreign remittance instruments have translated into a negligible Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution from the country's human resource capital abroad, experts have said.

With only two years remaining on President Bingu wa Mutharika's presidency bill, indicators are that his policy-vision to transform Malawi from a net importer to dominant exporter may not be fulfilled, raising concerns that an initiative once billed as the panacea to Malawi's perpetual balance of trade deficits could end up as a mere pipe-dream.

Malawi ended her drought of voluntary taxes following launch of Instant Game and Lotto games by the National Lottery Group (NLG) on December 19 last year.

Under the pressure of hard times, strict bank-lending policies and lack of alternative funding mechanisms, community members in various parts of the country have resorted to forming savings' associations and cooperatives to finance their frail business ventures.