“Dr Livingstone I presume”

I finished up with Business Consult Africa a little over a week ago so this is my last entry. We had some very positive news for a proposal submitted by a couple of consultants doing a strategy piece for a finance organisation so I leave comforted in the knowledge that they will be keeping busy over the next few months. It is positive not just because its chargeable but it is also a very strategic piece for BCA as they build their repertoire of medium sized companies moving towards more profitable work.

The proposals I have submitted remain in the decision making phase and it is unfortunate I wont be around to see them through. That is a characteristic of many opportunities out here whereby potential clients are incredibly positive about working with BCA but reluctant to sign on the dotted line. The challenge remains to identify those that mean business and those that are taking you for a ride.

My experience overall has been very positive. I have learnt a lot from a professional point of view and hopefully introduced one or two ideas going forward for BCA. Clients are much more open here than in the West. It took some time to adjust but rather than 4 or 5 emails back and forth, people are more willing to spend a bit of time to meet face to face with little, if any, introduction. That makes it very useful for the UK consultants who are here for a relatively short period of time. On the flip side however, things take a long time to process, there is chronic over overstaffing and as a result major efficiency problems.

In the past few weeks I needed to get out of the country for visa purposes. I headed off to Zambia on safari spending some time camping in the trees only to be awoken by elephants rubbing themselves against the trunk. Then down to Livingstone to see the Victoria Falls – way too much water this time of the year to see anything but the spray.

Give me a beer and a bag of nuts – I’ve had a rough day

Victoria Falls

After being soaked by the spray, I watched people throw themselves off Vic Falls Bridge. Of course by the time I got to the front of the queue they were closing.

Unfortunately a mishap at the boarder with my visa has meant I need to leave next week. But definitely not for the last time.

So Malawi. I came with an uneasy historical legacy but it has to be said, of all efforts to colonise Africa, Scotsman David Livingstone and his Scottish counterparts were one of few who had genuine ambitions of indigenous development and commerce, while at the same time tackling the slave trade head on. A strong affinity exists between Scotland and Malawi which I suppose is in part why I am here on a Scottish project.

Clearly I havn’t experienced the bulk of Malawi. Approximately 85% of Malawian households are not connected to the electricity grid. Far fewer would have internet access/cars/degrees all of which were common place among the Malawians I met. However even among the relatively well off whom I have dealt with, the true Malawi emerges. Those of you who know it would probably groan at the punch line “Malawi: The warm heart of Africa”. But it holds true.

Oh and for those who are reading this because you are coming out here (which is what I did when coming out) here is my independently adjudicated top 5 list of things to do:

1. Mulanje Mountain – I never thought I would say this but that place is spiritual

2. N’gola lodge (opposite entrance to Majete Game Reserve)- Probably wrong spelling. The owners built the bar and infinity pool before running out of money for accommodation.  Basically, a campsite where the owners have their priorities straight.

3. Lake Malawi – Cliché I know – dont expect the Great Barrier Reef, but do expect a very ‘chilled’ atmosphere.

4. Chez Ntemba – A night club in Blantyre. Entered just to keep my comrades happy. Hold on to your wallet.

5. The whole of Malawi north of Lilongwe- I didn’t get there but you can be sure it would be awesome.

Go the Flames!

The past few weeks have been busy with the follow ups with the private schools – a few have expressed an interest in training for their teachers and looking at ways of improving their operational management. Hopefully some will materialise for the next consultants to take on. I have also submitted a couple of large proposals. This time around I am not holding my breath for a prompt response. We are still waiting for the ones I submitted back in January so I will just have to throw a hospital pass to the next consultants if we win any of them.

Lastly I have done a short bit of BD work with a potential client who wants to set up one of Malawi’s few large scale cotton cultivation outfits. This was in the form of a concept paper – should Indian investors be interested it will be developed into a full scale business plan which will then be used to attract funding.

Cotton cultivation and its various value add processes such as yarn and fabric are important for Malawi. Currently 60% of all exports is tobacco. In fact Malawi is the most tobacco dependent country out there. The problem here is not a fall in demand, but only a handful of very large and powerful buyers who have been accused of some rather dubious price fiddling tactics. That leaves the local cultivators and their labourers high and dry, it also leaves the government in a precarious position given tobacco is such an important source of foreign currency – and as I noted before, no foreign currency makes life hell. So up scaling cotton production (putting aside its environmental impact) is likely to help wean Malawi off its nicotine addiction and promote economic growth – And it won’t take much – To put into context, Malawi’s GDP is roughly the same as sleepy town Bath (UK) and its surrounding villages.

Over the past few weeks we have been to Zomba – an old colonial relic once described as the most beautiful capital in the British empire…Reminds me of Carlsberg’s claim of probably the best beer in the world. It has definitely seen better days not least because the capital moved from there to Lilongwe 35 years ago.

Zomba from Zomba Plateau

Same view a little later on

On the weekend Jim, another consultant from the UK and a few others went to see Togo (Sparrow Hawks) and Malawi (The Flames) play a qualifier for the African Nations Cup. Official FIFA capacity 32,000. Actual capacity 50,000+     Four minutes in and the crowd were stunned into silence as a blatant hand ball gave the sparrow hawks a penalty. This was not going to script – a number of people asked me to pray for a Malawian win, not necessarily for the teams progression in the cup but more for personal safety in the stadium. If there was ever a case of the crowd becoming the twelfth man it was now. The Sparrow Hawk tamely tapped the ball towards the awaiting Malawian keeper and the stadium erupted – opposite us was an open stand with its entire population jumping in unison creating a wave of energy that I have never experienced before. Shortly after, a Togolese own goal cemented their bad luck and the Flames were home, but not dry. The biggest down pour since I have been here happened to occur on the same day Jim and I casually decided we didn’t need to bring an umbrella or a jacket.

At the beginning Jim thinking he can tough it out while the Canadians come prepared. Always.

Congratulations to Tione, Mwabi and Edmund (not in picture). They successfully passed their Chartered Management Institute certificate, after a years training delivered by my predecessors. Delivering the certificates was project sponsor and former high  commissioner to Malawi, George Finlayson

Finally – Lake Malawi!

Well the workshop I have been working on has come and gone. We managed to drum up about 15 schools with some very last minute publicity. We were happy with that. It was also a good idea to ask people to come ½ hour before we needed them as it was looking worryingly quiet when we started. The notion of arriving fashionably late is just as strong here and should be planned for. The event was well received. A couple of directors commented on how little support there is to foster the business element of running a school. The government needs to do more if it wants the private sector to help Malawi reach the education Millennium Development Goal of universal primary enrollment by 2015  (currently sitting at around 80%). Hopefully for the business this will lead to more traditional one on one consultancy as we are now setting up ‘diagnostic’ (read freebie) meetings with them.

On the weekend we went to Lake Malawi. Type Malawi into google images and you get what looks like an amazing coral reef. I must admit this was almost the first thing I did when I discovered I was going to Malawi (excellent I thought, not realising it is in fact a land locked country). The pictures are in fact of Lake Malawi, sometimes known as calender lake because it is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide – weird.

As a backpacker this is the sort of place you would spend at least a couple of weeks, as an expat/volunteer Lake Malawi is perfect for a long weekend and you often bump into others you know from Blantyre. We went to Cape Maclear which is on the southern tip of Lake Malawi looking westwards so perfect for sunsets. It is also close to the Malawian Naval base! presumably they are preparing for attack from the Swiss Navy.

Cape Maclear is pretty much a fishing village with a number of bungalow type hostels dotted along the beach. In fact it is very well managed. Often in a place like this there is unease between locals and visitors but here although living separate lives there was a strong sense of integration.

Those of you who are fans of the tipping point/critical mass would enjoy studying the flow of patrons between lodges at night. While there are about 6/7 bars along the beach, word gets around quickly and most people end up at one of them leaving the rest empty. Saturday night was the reggae beach bar which supposedly had a dance competition (which I immediately felt I had a good chance of winning). We had a good time but the competition never eventuated – I wonder if we were the subject of some clever marketing?

I have visited around 25 schools over the past week introducing our services and the forum to be held on Friday. The notion that the state should have a monopoly over education is pretty unfeasible in the context of Malawi’s economy and probably that is just as well. Private providers here are more efficient and effective in the delivery of education. I have been told it is something to do with teacher motivation – a simple indicator of this are the number of parents choosing private over state schools regardless of their income.

Of course the state does have a role in providing free education but why not encourage this by funding the parents directly and not the schools?! Instead schools face massive barriers to entry and very little donor support. You wonder why the most important decision makers, the parents, are not consulted in developing education policies.

Myself, a teacher and Frank, my colleague.

The past couple of weeks were pretty eventful. In spirit of the popular uprising in North Africa and the Middle East, students right outside of our offices were demonstrating about non payment of a book fund they receive every year (roughly $200). They managed to close off the highway and were getting pretty vocal until the police showed up and spoiled the party. After a very short period of time, tear gas was fired off into the crowd which obviously did the job and they scattered. I was getting my hair cut while all this was happening so could hear the chanting going on. After the first canister was fired the hairdresser and I looked at each other and promptly agreed to hurry it up which probably explains at the moment why I look like I have walked off the set of Deliverance.

On the weekend I went back to the mountains. This time there was no question of aiming for the top. I went with a group of volunteers for a party so our biggest concern was how many porters we needed to transport the drinking rations. We walked the back route taking you through pineapple farms, savannah like plateaus and waterfalls hidden within dense tropical forests. We reached the cabin in time for sun down and a few drinks. Suffice to say a five hour hike back down the mountain is not a hangover cure.

Guided through the jungle

Pinapple farming

Going for a swim

The first thing a local Malawian will ask when talking about food is have you tried Nsima. It is a local dish made from maize, and is the centrepiece for many households sitting around the dinner table. Frankly it tastes pretty ordinary and I have asked the cook to serve it sparingly. I guess it does its job, sticking to you all day, and night, and the following day.

Nsima.

While Nsima is the king of starch, there are plenty of contenders including rice, boiled potatoes and deep fried chips. They say that if a Malawian hasn’t eaten if there is no starch on the plate. Of course these cant exactly be called national dishes. I recently had an argument with a local guy who was trying to claim fish and chips as Malawian – Wikipedia put an end to that argument.

I suppose the good thing about having a fairly starchy cuisine are the condiments. Birds eye chillies are produced here and with that comes a whole range of hot sauces. The tropical fruit is also really good and cheap!

I am better versed in the drink department. There is the avocado fanta (beer > Carlsberg > green label > avocado fanta). Carlsberg have totally wrapped up the market, brewing it here in Malawian to the point that I consider it a Malawian beer. The alternative is cuchi-cuchi or shake-shake which is made from maize, hence its handy name. I can hardly bring myself to smelling it let alone tasting it. Finally there is Malawian Gin. This is fantastic, made from juniper only found in Malawi and on the top of my list of things to export should I want a career change. Nothing beats an african sunset with an MGT in hand.

Lunch time special

ok, where is a lawyer…Funnily enough the real Irn Bru is made in Blantyre (Scotland)

At first I was surprised how multicultural this city is. Indians arrived here around 100 years ago and there are now many third/fourth generation Indians running a significant chunk of the economy. More recently over the past 20 years or so the Chinese have come. While as you would expect, this would be driven by multi billion dollar deals in large infrastructure or resource related projects, it is the level of small business activity which I am amazed by.

In the wake of these large construction projects, many families have decided to stay as economic migrants in search for new and less competitive markets. Anything from small restaurants to selling chickens at the local market it appears to me there are just as many Chinese faces as there are European as I walk through town. Clearly they have ruffled a few feathers (ahem) among local traders and I have heard of a number of dubious trading tactics, especially from the employees. However, I can’t help but feel the efficiency bar has been raised which can only be a good thing in the long run for small business growth – the local economy now has to either adapt or die.

If you were squint your eyes and take a cross section of foreigners here in present day Malawi, the West are here to deliver aid, the Chinese are here to do business. I think I know which horse to back when it comes to foreign influences on economic development.

Lunchtime…

A European eating chinese food in Malawi listening to Latin American music = brain overload

A disclaimer on my lazy observations: As you probably would have guessed I am partial to the odd generalisation. I am very sure there are exceptions to the rule and open to the idea of being totally wrong!

Macro economics I can truly feel. Constant power cuts leads to, in part, low foreign direct investment. Without foreigners splashing cash, there is very little foreign exchange. Without foreign exchange, there are major petrol shortages (minimum 4 hour waits now) and with no petrol, the cost of my dinner has just gone up by 30%.