By Kondwani Magomnbo
The standard procedure in Malawi and, probably, everywhere else in the world, is that before any product hits the market, it has to be registered and certified by designated authorities.
The designated national standards authority in Malawi is the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), whose primary purpose is to ensure the quality, safety, and reliability of products and services in the country.
Now, picture this scenario: You acquire a bank loan and venture into production of some goods. The product registration and certification processes involves travelling to the nearest MBS for manual paperwork submissions.
At MBS, the application submissions are handled manually at all stages until the final registration and/or certification is done and, after sometime, you’ll have to travel back to the MBS offices to manually collect your product papers.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and your bank is counting down the period of servicing your loan.
Such have been likely situations among business operators transacting with MBS, which has, all along, been transacting manually, making registration and certification of products a delayed process.
“When a business operator registers a tangible product, MBS is supposed to give feedback within 21 working days,” explains MBS Deputy Director for Quality Assurance Services, Demstar Edward Kumvenji,
“But with the manual transactions that we have been using, most times we are off track for up to 30 – 35 working days, or more,” he adds.
The delays caused by MBS’s lack of modern electronic systems also affects import and export certification and laboratory management, as importers and exporters travel in person to the MBS offices to make service applications, and endure all the back and forth jostling.
According to MBS, this has hampered efficiency in cross boarder clearance services rendered to the trading community, while the authenticity of the issued certificates is sometimes questioned.
Through all these observations and feedback from clients, MBS integrated the element of system automation as Strategic Pillar Number 1 in the Bureau’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan.
The Plan to automate MBS systems has now come to fruition with the development of the Management Information System (MIS), a project under the Southern African Trade and Connectivity Project (SATCP),’ with World Bank’s support of up to 2.3 million U.S. dollars.
The 2.3 million U.S dollars includes systems development, data center infrastructure equipment, Local Area Networks improvements for all the MBS sites, and solar equipment installations for all MBS sites, plus ICT capacity building training.
The World Bank funded SATCP initiative is under the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, and its main objective is to facilitate trade within Malawi, and also between Malawi and its neighbours, particularly Zambia and Mozambique.
According to SATCP Communications Specialist, Joab Frank Chakhaza, the MIS development at MBS is an initiative under a bigger project called the Malawi National Single Window (MNSW), which was conceived after a survey that exposed many challenges that impede trade in Malawi.
“One of the issues we discovered was that traders struggled a lot to do certification, to get licenses and to move their products from one post to another, or from one country to another,” explains Chakhaza.
“A bigger project, the Malawi National Single Window was established to bring all government agencies and departments at one platform so that they can trade, or link digitally,” he adds.
Under the MNSW, it remains a requirement for all the agencies and departments connected to trade, in one way or the other, to go digital so as to be able to “see” each other and transact electronically.
MBS as a critical player in trade in Malawi, thus has had to consider standing up and be counted by abandoning the old-fashioned paper-based system to join the modern world of automated transacting.
Tapping from SACTP funds, the Bureau did not have to look beyond the borders of Malawi to procure the development of the MIS: a local IT services company, Idias Corporation Limited, duly got the contract to provide the much needed ‘visa’ for MBS to not only transact electronically, but to, also, be digitally visible within the trade family.
According to Idias Corporation Limited Managing Director, Edwin Saidi, the scope of the project involves developing a system to automate all the business processes of the MBS.
Now, the development of the MIS for the MBS is completed and the system is being tested and validated by the Bureau to ascertain its performance and efficiency, according to Saidi.
When fully operational, the new automated MBS system will cut time and costs incurred on both ends with the current paper-based system.
“This project is a game changer as there will be no need to travel to the nearest MBS offices register, or get a product certified: traders will do all the transactions, including payments, using computers or smartphones from the comfort of their offices, homes, or cafes,” explains Saidi,
The new automated system, which is web-based, will also allow consumers scan MBS stickers on goods, using a smartphone, to confirm with the Bureau on the authenticity of the certification.
According to Saidi, this will instill confidence among not only the local, but also among the international consumers buying Malawian imported products out there.
The MBS’ excitement is hard to conceal as the Bureau currently validates the new system, ready to transition.
According to the MBS Deputy Director for Quality Assurance Services, Demstar Edward Kumvenji, other than saving the traders time and costs, the electronic system will ease the Bureau’s internal processes.
With the manual system, he explains, after the trader registers a product, the Bureau handles processes by moving files from one office to the other, up to the time when everything is done and certification decision is made and approved.
“Through the digitalization process, there’ll be no need for movement of files from office to office, nor any need for manual payments: the applicant will just register and be able to follow through the system tracking process electronically – unlike moving from one place to another just to check progress on the process,” explains Kumvenji.
He further adds that in the absence of the electronic system, it has not been possible to follow the testing process of samples (drawn from onsite visitation after registration of a product) until the final report is released.
But with electronic system MBS will be able to track the samples at the lab at each and every stage to the very end.
“The MIS is key milestone towards economic growth: Now, because the process will be streamlined, allowing certification within a very short period of time, many people will be attracted to get certification and go to formal market where many people are able to patronize.
“At the end of the day, the traders are going to increase the volumes of their production, unlike now when many people are discouraged with the delays,” explains the MBS Deputy Director for Quality Assurance Services.
But even happier with the MBS automated system is SACTP, as the Bureau will now be able to connect digitally with other MDAs, the core objective of the MNSW.
“This is going to make doing trade a lot easier,” explains Chakhaza, SACTP Communications Specialist. “It is going to make processes move faster; it is going to save traders a lot of money – transacting everything from home, or office.
“This is going to be a game changer for Malawi: we are going to see a boom in trade as the barriers that were stopping people from venturing into businesses will no longer be there,” adds Chakhaza.
The World Bank funded SACTP initiative will run up to 2027 after supporting the development of the system and a few other required upgrades.
According to Chakhaza, beyond 2027, it will be the duty of the key stakeholders to ensure that the systems are up and running, and serving the intended purpose.
