Authors
Happy Kayuni, Dan Banik and Joseph Chunga
Introduction
Malawi – one of the poorest countries in the world – is landlocked, a status that places a huge burden on its economy and renders most of its exports uncompetitive. Landlocked countries rely on rail and road transportation, which in turn result in high costs. Most transportation of goods in Malawi is undertaken by road, and compared to other developing countries, its percentage of transportation costs to total production costs is extremely high (Afdb 2011). Indeed, Malawi’s transport costs alone are among the highest on the continent, which in turn increase the cost of consumer imports (UNECA 2016: 179). Such costs are further exacerbated by the rising cost of fuel and hence there is a constant desire in political and administrative circles to initiate projects that reduce transportation costs.
