MAPUTO (Reuters) &#8211; Hundreds of thousands of people are still in need of aid after Cyclone Idai battered Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in March. 



More than 1,000 people have been reported killed by the storm, the flooding it caused and heavy rains before it hit. The World Bank estimates the affected countries will need over $2 billion to recover.



Following is an outline of the disaster, according to government and U.N. officials.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">MOZAMBIQUE</h3>



Cyclone Idai made landfall on the night of March 14, near the port city of Beira, bringing heavy winds and rains. Two major rivers, the Buzi and the Pungue, burst their banks, submerging villages and leaving bodies floating in the water.



People killed: 602



People injured: 1,641



Houses damaged or destroyed: 239,682



Crops damaged: 715,378 hectares



People affected: 1.85 million



Confirmed cholera cases: 4,979



Confirmed cholera deaths: 8



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ZIMBABWE</h3>



On March 16, the storm hit eastern Zimbabwe, where it flattened homes and flooded communities in the Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.



People killed: 344



People injured: 200



People displaced: 16,000 households



People affected: 250,000



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">MALAWI</h3>



Before it arrived, the storm brought heavy rains and flooding to the lower Shire River districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje in Malawi’s south. The rains continued after the storm hit, compounding the misery of tens of thousands of people.



People killed: 60



People injured: 672



People displaced: 19,328 households



People affected: 868,895



Compiled by Emma Rumney; Editing by Alison Williams

Hundreds of thousands displaced after Cyclone Idai, death toll over 1,000

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Torrential rain has devastated parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, killing more than 150 people and leaving scores more without homes, power and access to aid. The Gift of the Givers foundation is working hard to get humanitarian aid to affected areas. CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi spoke to Ahmed Bham, Team Leader at Gift of the Givers.

Cyclone Idai leaves destruction in Mozambique, Zimbabwe & Malawi

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gina-porter-267322">By Gina Porter</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/durham-university-867">Durham University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ariane-de-lannoy-333799">Ariane De Lannoy</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a>
Many in the international development community view technology –not least, mobile phones – as a possible panacea for Africa’s youth unemployment crisis. Their use is sharply <a href="https://qz.com/748354/smartphone-use-has-more-than-doubled-in-africa-in-two-years/">on the rise</a>. Mobile phones reduce the need for physical travel, allow rapid access to information about job openings and enable people to contact potential employers. They can be used to help run more efficient businesses.
<a href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/child.phones/">Research</a> my colleagues and I conducted as part of a study funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the Department for International Development found that some young people in Africa are using mobile phones successfully to access or create employment. But mobile phones are failing many more young people in their search for employment and livelihoods.
<a href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/child.phones/">The study</a>, conducted in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa, suggests some important reasons why phones may be unable to help young people fulfil their employment dreams. Our findings demonstrate that phone connections are not enough. Connectivity is only useful if it opens up access to employment opportunities that will pay a living wage.
That’s the crux of the problem: there simply aren’t enough quality jobs available. Ghana and Malawi have extensive informal sectors which have long provided at least some work for young people. Mobile phones have opened up some new opportunities in the informal sector – young people sell airtime or repair handsets, or may grow their service and trading businesses through the phone.
South Africa, meanwhile, has failed to grow a vibrant informal sector since apartheid ended in 1994. Its young people tend to be looking for work in the formal sector, and most do not have the employability skills that might make mobile phones useful to achieving this goal.
In reality the extent to which the mobile phone can support and sustain real improvement in young lives is depressingly finite unless significant interventions occur – particularly in the education and technology sectors.
<h2>Informal versus formal sector</h2>
Our respondents were aged between nine and 25 and came from 24 diverse sites from poor urban neighbourhoods to remote rural locations. We conducted more than 1500 interviews face to face and in focus groups, and followed this up with a questionnaire survey of about 4500 young people.
In Ghana and Malawi – as in much of sub-Saharan Africa – most young people are exposed to work in the informal sector at an early age. There are many problems with this. But limited inputs into the informal sector can bring significant benefits.
It can help children to build a repertoire of knowledge and skills that will later help them to obtain an income. It’s also a way to consolidate social networks young people can draw on when they are subsequently searching for paid work.
Over the last decade, mobile phones have brought potential and new flexibility into young people’s lives. This is especially true for those who are entrepreneurial. Some of the people we interviewed earn a living directly linked to phones: selling airtime, charging and mending phones. This is often short-term, low paid work but can help them to earn money for further training. They also used their phones extensively to build up personal contacts in key support networks while looking for jobs.
The situation in South Africa is very different. In the poor urban neighbourhoods where we conducted the study, virtually every household where we interviewed young people owns at least one phone and smart phone access is growing rapidly. But the devices have had remarkably little positive impact on young people’s livelihoods.
Work opportunities of any kind for low-skilled youth are very sparse, and especially so in the absence of a vibrant informal sector. This is a historical legacy stemming back to bans on informal enterprise during the apartheid era. Unemployed school leavers tend to concentrate on trying to find low-skill jobs in the formal sector. Most formal jobs, however, require higher skill levels; so competition for low-skill jobs is very intense and few young people succeed in their search for work.
Poor young people in South Africa also lack access to productive social networks that could provide them with information about the formal job market. Few have had the opportunity to gain work experience during their school days, which would help them to acquire the key skills and networking opportunities that might promote employability. Many look for volunteer posts which they hope will give them the experience and skills to find paid work.
All of this emphasises a fundamental difference in youth employment stakes between Ghana and Malawi on the one hand, and South Africa on the other: the role of the informal sector. In the first two countries the informal sector dominates. Despite its very many deficiencies, it provides a training ground for learning basic skills and a labour absorption mechanism.
In South Africa the near absence of informal sector openings arguably denies low-skilled young people any early work experience and limits their subsequent access to paid work opportunities.
Access to mobile phones cannot change this reality. Bigger changes at a societal level are necessary.
<h2>Moving on?</h2>
Both the overall basket and the scope of local livelihood opportunities open to young people will have to grow exponentially, across the continent, if mobile phones are to realise their potential in local employment arenas.
Researchers at the <a href="https://www.saldru.uct.ac.za/">Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit</a> and the Children’s Institute who were involved in this project suggest various interventions that might help, particularly in South Africa.
For instance, travel vouchers could help young people who currently don’t have enough money to move from deprived areas to areas with labour demand. And, given the stronger demand for skilled over unskilled labour, there’s obviously an urgent need for skills development and training at secondary, post-secondary and workplace level. There are some opportunities to build experience through the country’s public works programme, <a href="http://www.nyda.gov.za/National-Youth-Service-Programme/Pages/default.aspx">National Youth Service</a> and NGO volunteering. But these need to incorporate stronger skills training for young people from poor communities.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88786/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />South Africa could also consider extending social assistance to the chronically unemployed through a basic income grant or a comprehensive support package for poor youth. This would make sense when many young people are currently trapped in poverty, often exacerbated by the need to contribute to their family incomes – a reality which could hinder their ability to invest in training or business expansion.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gina-porter-267322">Gina Porter</a>, Senior Research Fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/durham-university-867">Durham University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ariane-de-lannoy-333799">Ariane De Lannoy</a>, Senior Researcher: Poverty and Inequality Initiative, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/access-to-mobile-phones-wont-magically-fix-youth-unemployment-in-africa-88786">original article</a>.

Mobile phones are not a panacea for Africa’s youth unemployment crisis, these interventions might help

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<h6>Caption: Ms Annie Kaipa planting seeds &#8211; picture supplied</h6>
By: Mary-Jean Nleya *
President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, was chosen as the World Food Laureate by the World Food Prize board in June 2017. On October 16, as part of the World Food Prize events, he delivered a boldly-<a href="http://cnbc.africa/apo/2017/10/16/betting-on-africa-to-feed-the-world-adesina-2017-world-food-prize-laureate-to-deliver-norman-borlaug-lecture-on-world-food-day/">titled</a> lecture “Betting on Africa To Feed The World”.
With an estimated <a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/8dc5628042112fdbba2fff494779b2ad/Handbook+-+Working+with+Smallholders.pdf?MOD=AJPERES">33 million</a> small-holder farmers, Africa has in recent times been dubbed the “breadbasket of the world”. The 33 million small-holder farmers represent a great business <a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/8dc5628042112fdbba2fff494779b2ad/Handbook+-+Working+with+Smallholders.pdf?MOD=AJPERES">opportunity</a> to be tapped into to expand market share for businesses seeking to service small-holder farmers. But is Africa living up to the &#8220;breadbasket&#8221; moniker?
In a world that produces enough food to feed everyone, one in nine people goes to bed hungry every day. That is an approximate number of <a href="http://www1.wfp.org/zero-hunger">815 million people</a>. Food security remains a global challenge. This great need means there is a great global food demand.
In Malawi, attempts have been made to improve agriculture development for small-holder farmers. The <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21716036-not-transformative-its-founders-hoped-ethiopias-state-art-commodity">Agriculture Commodity Exchange for Africa in Malawi</a> has not lived to its full potential and has not yielded positive externalities for small-holder farmers, and specifically, women small-holder farmers, in the country.
Trading volumes are low and the exchange is predominantly focused on staple foods. The supply chain infrastructure for small-holder farmers in Malawi is yet to be developed. <a href="http://www.comesa.int/">COMESA</a> (the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) in <a href="http://www.comesa.int/fertilizer-supply-program-begins-in-zambia/">2016</a> implemented an initiative to regionalize the supply of fertilizer to small-holder farmers through the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa starting in Zambia.
An expected 500,000 metric tonnes of fertilisers were to be supplied to small-holder farmers across the region under the auspices of the same initiative, over a period of 36 months with an expected renewal for up to 10 years.
<h4>Obstacles for women farmers</h4>
Small-holder farmers work on over <a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/8dc5628042112fdbba2fff494779b2ad/Handbook+-+Working+with+Smallholders.pdf?MOD=AJPERES">60%</a> of farmland in sub-Saharan Africa and women small-holder farmers make up almost 50% of the labour force in the agriculture sector; but produce almost 30% less than their male counterparts because of obstacles experienced, such as barriers to accessing markets and receiving farming inputs, obstacles to access to financing and others.
Despite the current challenges that women specifically face in the small-holder agriculture sector, their resilience is palpable. “I really enjoy farming – farming is my calling”, <a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/2017/10/leading-women-trailblazing-small-scale-farming-an-untapped-resource/">said</a> Annie Bongololo Kaipa a 36-year-old Malawian small-holder farmer in the Kanengo Area of Lilongwe.
Speaking fluently in English and adorning a blue necklace and a lace top, Kaipa confidently <a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/2017/10/leading-women-trailblazing-small-scale-farming-an-untapped-resource/">said</a>, “I completed my secondary education and passed the Malawi School Certificate of Education, I could have ventured in other things – but I chose to farm. I have 4 plots, I bought my fourth plot in 2008 – I farm sugar cane, maize, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes and bananas”. When asked about the reason behind her purchasing more plots to farm, she said: “I am motivated because it is through this that I am able to make a living for my children and use the income to take them to school”.
<h4>Kaipa learned how to farm from her father</h4>
Kaipa started farming at the age of 8 after learning the skill from her father. She said: “My father encouraged all of his children to go to school and after school to go to the farm. At the time, he was working at the Lilongwe Teacher’s Training College and was also a farmer during the weekends”.
She further explained, “My father considered farming as a safety net in case his children did not succeed at anything else. And he was right. It is through this, my farming, that I can feed myself and my children as well as educate my children”.
Kaipa explained her farming activities and challenges, “Fertilizer is expensive and I water my various plots by hand using this watering can – this is a great challenge. I wish I had a treadle pump – it would be very helpful”. She went further to say, “The market for selling the produce can also be a challenge – sometimes I plant potatoes but then it is difficult to sell, because I am competing with the supermarkets. The supermarkets do not buy from people like us. If the supermarkets could buy from us, it would really improve us and our farming businesses”.
<h4>Adesina introduced the E-Wallet system in Nigeria</h4>
The initiative introduced by the Food Laureate, Adesina while he was Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria, the <a href="https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/betting-on-africa-to-feed-the-world-adesina-2017-world-food-prize-laureate-to-deliver-norman-borlaug-lecture-on-world-food-day-17431/">E-Wallet system</a> improved Nigeria&#8217;s food production and became an enabler of fertiliser distribution.
Such an initiative coupled with the COMESA/ACTESA initiative, if rolled out appropriately in Malawi, would be beneficial for improving the farming business of keen small-holder farmers such as Annie Kaipa. The current attempts in <a href="http://www.comesa.int/country-harmonized-comesa-seed-regulations-have-been-launched/">harmonizing</a> COMESA seed laws through the COMESA Seed Harmonization Implementation Programme in the region will create a better environment to monitor and certify seed quality.
This will lead to an investment-friendly climate for commercial seeds that are geared for export. In turn, seed quality will be improved, which will benefit small-holder farmers, if the right public policies are put in place.
<h4>Partnership between OCP Group and Nigerian government</h4>
The Nigerian Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (<a href="https://guardian.ng/features/agro-care/presidential-initiative-on-fertilizer-kicks-off/">PFI</a>), a program introduced by the Nigerian government and the <a href="http://www.ocpgroup.ma/">OCP Group</a>, the Moroccan state-owned entity which is the global market leader in phosphate and phosphoric acid – derivatives of fertilizer production and a key player in the international market. This partnership between the Nigerian government and OCP Group, through the PFI, is an attempt at affording farmers fertilizers at reasonable prices, from what was the case prior to the initiative.
With an estimated population of 18 million, Malawi’s economy relies heavily on agriculture, with agriculture contributing <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malawi/overview">30% to the country’s GDP</a>. It is therefore imperative that women small-holder farmers be supported for the welfare of the country itself and the global food system.
In the words of Annie Kaipa: “I am looking for a bigger market to sell to – if supermarkets were incentivized to buy local produce from small-holder farmers like myself, I would be in a position to expand my farming business and would adequately take care of my family.”
Indeed, empowering women can lift communities out of hardship and specifically empowering women small-holder farmers has the potential to feed more hungry mouths and transform the global food system. The development and business community should harness this incredible resource. Indeed Africa, and more so African small-holder farmers have the potential to feed the world.
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* Mary-Jean Nleya is the founder and editor of <a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/">The Global Communiqué</a> . She was recently on a Grassroots Reporting project in Malawi. She is an Emerging Leader alumnus and was invited to attend the Atlantic Dialogues in Marrakech, Morocco – organized by the OCP Policy Center in partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Follow on twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/thegloco">@thegloco</a> . 
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Op-Ed: Small Farmers to Revitalise Agriculture in Africa

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By Mary-Jean Nleya 
The financial services industry in Africa is ever expanding with fintech startups finding particularly innovative ways to service the 80% unbanked adults in Africa. <a href="http://disrupt-africa.com/about/">Disrupt Africa</a>, a portal with information relating to Africa’s startup scene, released a <a href="http://disrupt-africa.com/finnovating-for-africa/">report</a> which found that of the <a href="http://disrupt-africa.com/finnovating-for-africa/">301 fintech startups</a>, 125 of the startups place their efforts on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2017/06/15/payment-startups-lead-way-in-africas-booming-fintech-scene/#5268d9cd24d1">easing the process</a> of sending and receiving money.
Mobile money technology has gained significant traction on the continent, especially among those who lack basic financial services from traditional financial providers.  While many think of Kenya’s M-Pesa when mobile payment technology is mentioned; there is another mobile money technology startup that is making a name in the financial inclusion space since its founding in 2009, it is known as Zoona. Founded by two brothers from Kitwe, a city in Zambia. Zoona currently operates in <a href="https://ilovezoona.com/about-us/">three markets</a>: Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique and is looking to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzsLV_cvCm8">expand</a> into the Democratic Republic of Congo.
<h4>Relationship building</h4>
In Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital the trademark bright lime green boxes are found in almost every busy street, with more than one in many others. The Managing Director of Zoona Malawi, Ms. Killy Kanjo explained that Zoona’s main vision “is to make communities thrive”. As the first Managing Director for Zoona Malawi, she explained that her role in the company was and currently is to build relationships with the relevant stakeholders in Malawi and most importantly to “make people understand that what Zoona does is both economic and social”.
Kanjo also worked directly with Malawi’s regulators at the early inception of Zoona’s operations in Malawi. “The regulators provided us with guidelines and also gave us the necessary latitude we needed to grow”. When asked about the <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21720624-startup-takes-banks-and-mobile-operators-different-approach-mobile">US$15 million</a> that Zoona raised from investors in 2016, Kanjo explained that “Zoona has a deliberate strategy of creating more jobs for the youth as well as empower women and that is what it will continue to do”.
Lucy Zuze, a 20 year old young woman working as a Zoona teller, operating at one of Zoona’s many outlets in the city of Lilongwe said she had started working for Zoona in January 2017, prior to this she had been unemployed and had found it difficult to secure a job. Zuze explained, “I am able to do what I want because I have my own finances that I get from being a teller at this outlet”. She went on to say, “I hope to one day rise to become a Zoona agent and employ tellers like myself in the future”.
<h4>Partnering with youth and women</h4>
“Many youth have nowhere to go, Zoona wants to partner with the youth and women and see how we can work together”, Kanjo said. Since 2009, when Zoona was founded, over <a href="https://ilovezoona.com/about-us/">US$2 billion</a> in transactions have been processed by Zoona – in response to this fact Kanjo said, “this figure is humbling”. Given that Zoona’s target market is the unbanked and underserved communities in its countries of operation, “there is clearly a lot of money out there that people are not aware of – underserved communities simply need a platform that cater to their needs that they can transact their monies through and I think Zoona is moving Africa in that right direction,” Kanjo said.
Zoona’s <a href="https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Skoll_Centre/Docs/Zoona-Case-A.pdf">business model</a> and its mode of operations is centred on its small business agents, its franchisees, who in turn (may employ tellers or may themselves) process transactions for the customers at the Zoona lime green booths. The network of agents are strategically dispersed and they themselves earn a commission on the number of transactions made and Zoona in turn charges a fee to each sender making use of its system.
In Lilongwe, particularly, Zoona outlets are near large supermarkets, at transport hubs, near schools and so on. The top-performing agents are at liberty to have more than one outlet as well as pick a location for the outlet to be situated; whereas the newer agents are guided as to where to place their initial Zoona outlet. “Giving the power to the Zoona agents makes the business grow better, they are on the ground and they best understand their customers and what their customers need”, Kanjo said. “We offer the initial training and the ongoing guidance to our agents, but we do not restrict them”. There are 500 agents in Zoona Malawi’s operations and these 500 agents have created over 750 jobs, as Zoona tellers.
<h4>Malawi is a cash-driven society</h4>
Malawi, similar to Zambia (where Zoona began operations), is a cash-driven society. “Zoona’s biggest competitive advantage is liquidity. We aim to ensure that no customer bounces from the green box because there was no money”, Kanjo said. Having large heaps of cash, while it may be a competitive advantage may pose a security challenge for Zoona outlets. “Zoona agents and tellers are mindful of security issues and they know how to balance having physical cash and electronic money”, Kanjo elucidated.
While Africa is home to numerous fintech startups, “It is important to offer a service that people need”, Kanjo said. “Our commodity is money; we don’t sell SIM cards, data bundles or anything else. We move money and move money quickly – that is what people here needed and Zoona resonated with a lot of people here in Malawi”. Access to relevant and affordable financial services and products enables society to move towards financial inclusion and this is especially imperative for Africa.
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Op-Ed: Making money while doing good in Malawi

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The WB&#8217;s Doing Business report is in its 15 year, Cemile Hacibeyoglu, Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank Group says the good news is that, 80 per cent of the reforms in this year&#8217;s report have been implemented by developing countries.

African economies adopt record number of reforms

Kristin Mmari | Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine
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A team of international experts have just published the most comprehensive analysis to date of how children on the cusp of adolescence perceive growing up as a boy or girl. The Global Adolescent Study involved a series of interviews conducted over the last four years with hundreds of early adolescents and their parents in 15 countries. These included Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. We asked lead researcher Kristin Mmari to explain the significance of the study
What did the 15-country global study set out to establish?
Our overarching question was to explore how boys and girls from diverse cultural settings experience their transitions into adolescence. Questions we were interested in finding answers to included: what changes? How do these changes vary by boys versus girls? How do these changes vary by geographic and cultural location?
We wanted to address these questions because the way in which adolescents experience biological and social changes differ. Factors that play a role include gender, cognitive abilities, educational, emotional, life experiences as well as cultural and social contexts. Yet information on how these factors manifest and inform gender differences across contexts is quite limited, particularly from low and middle-income countries.
A particularly interesting, yet unknown aspect of early adolescence, is how boys and girls establish relationships that ultimately shape their sexual and overall health from early to late adolescence.
What are the most important findings from African countries involved in the study?
So far, only Assuit in Egypt, Nairobi, Kenya, and Ile Ife, Nigeria have been involved. Another four countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and South Africa, will be included in future products and analyses.
The key takeaways from the study so far are:
<ul>
<li>First global study to demonstrate that we can measure gender norms around the world among this young age group ages 10-14 years old. Before this study, it was not known whether adolescents in this age group would be able to accurately provide information about what it meant to be an ‘adolescent’ and the attitudes and beliefs about gender that influenced their transition into adolescence. Not only did we learn that it’s possible to collect data from this age group across multiple cultural settings, but that in fact, adolescents are astute observers.</li>
<li>There are consistent forms of patriarchy around the world: girls are perceived to be vulnerable and in need of protection to preserve their sexual and reproductive health. Their mobility and social space is greatly reduced and often enforced by parents to “preserve their reputation”. Girls who are observed to be seen with boys are automatically assumed to be in romantic and sexual relationships with them, and this can often ruin their reputation or their families.</li>
<li>Boys expand their social space and are given much more freedom and independence. But they also face increased risks related to the environment, such as increased engagement in violence and/or substance misuse.</li>
<li>There were more similarities than differences between the sub-Saharan African contexts and the other sites included in the study. However, boy-girl relationships were frowned upon and subjected girls to sexual and reproductive health risks, such as pregnancy and gender based violence; as a consequence, many parents did not want their daughters in the company of boys.</li>
</ul>
The goal of the study was to get insights that could be used to inform policies that promote sexual and reproductive well-being. What insights were gained and what key interventions should follow?
We already know that norms around gender inequitable lead to poor health outcomes among older adolescents and young adults. For example, research has shown that when men and boys adhere to traditional views about masculinity, they are more likely to report having used violence against a partner, to have a sexually transmitted infection, and used substances Pulerwitz and Barker, 2008. Other studies have found correlations between beliefs in gender inequitable norms and HIV transmission rates, contraceptive use, and gender based violence (Barker and Ricardo, 2005).
This study shows that these norms are being solidified much earlier than we thought. Interventions then need to start earlier and should include both boys and girls. They should also address gender as a system that’s made up of multiple actors, ranging from parents, teachers, peers, neighbourhoods, and the broader media and policy environment.
What happens next?
Phase 2 of the study will be a large quantitative survey to examine the extent to which changes in beliefs of gender inequitable norms lead to changes in health outcomes, and the factors that may contribute to these changes.
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This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: African boys and girls enter teens with gender stereotypes firmly set

Malawi has issued an arrest warrant for its former President Joyce Banda over alleged abuse of office and money laundering offences over a two-year period when she was in office, a police spokesman said on Monday.
Banda&#8217;s spokesman denied any wrongdoing.
The alleged offences were part of a wider corruption scandal uncovered in 2013, in which senior government office siphoned millions of dollars from state coffers, national police spokesman James Kadadzera said.
Investigations by police&#8217;s fiscal and fraud department had &#8220;unearthed credible evidence&#8221; against Banda, he said.
&#8220;The evidence gathered raises reasonable suspicion that the former President committed offences related to abuse of office and money laundering. The warrant of arrest is in force and necessary legal formalities are being pursued,&#8221; Kadadzera said in a statement.
Banda, who was Malawi&#8217;s president for two years from 2012, left the country when she lost in elections to incumbent Peter Mutharika and has not returned since 2014.
It is not clear where she is now.
Banda&#8217;s spokesman Andekuche Chanthunya said he was not aware of the arrest summons, but said the former president was not guilty of anything. &#8220;As far as we are concerned she has not done anything wrong,&#8221; he said.
The corruption scandal, dubbed &#8220;cashgate&#8221;, led to international donors halting aid to the southern African nation.
A former justice minister and attorney general was convicted over &#8220;cashgate&#8221; and is in jail, along with a number of former high-ranking government officials and business persons.
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Reporting by Frank Phiri; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by James Macharia and Richard Balmforth
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Malawi issues arrest warrant for former president over graft scandal

LILONGWE (Reuters) &#8211; Malawi&#8217;s finance minister hopes the International Monetary Fund&#8217;s approval of a $26.9 million loan could lead to more global lenders unlocking budget support that was suspended three years ago over graft allegations.
The IMF said on Wednesday Malwai’s economy was on the right track after the fund completed its ninth and final review of the country&#8217;s economic performance under a program supported by an extended credit facility (ECF), allowing the global lender to make the loan.
<blockquote>&#8220;This is a very positive development because it signals that we are on the right track with our economic agenda and will help push for the much needed return of budget support,&#8221; Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe told Reuters on Thursday.</blockquote>
The loan brings total disbursements under the ECF arrangement, signed in 2012, to about $191.4 million.
&#8220;Strengthening public financial management, including through strong commitment controls, routine bank reconciliations, and regular fiscal reporting, remains critical to preventing the misappropriation of public funds and rebuilding trust and confidence in the budget process,&#8221; the IMF said in a statement.
Foreign aid has historically accounted for about 40 percent of the national budget.
Western donors led by former colonial ruler Britain froze budget support over a corruption scandal in which public servants siphoned millions of dollars from the public purse.
The World Bank resumed its budget aid to Malawi last month.
(Reporting by Mabvuto Banda; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Larry King)

Malawi sees IMF loan approval as signal of donor confidence

Lawrence White | LONDON
Barclays announced the sale of its Zimbabwe bank to Malawi-listed First Merchant Bank on Friday as the British lender continues its exit from Africa.
In March it announced it was in talks on the sale of its stake in Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe as part of a broader exit from Africa to refocus on the United States and Britain.
Barclays did not announce a price but said the deal would remove 292 million pounds ($375.69 million) in risk-weighted assets from its balance sheet.
All 700 Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe employees will transfer to the new owner, Barclays said. The deal is expected to complete in the third quarter of this year.
Barclays cut its stake in Barclays Africa Group to 15 percent on Thursday, ending more than 90 years as a major presence in Africa.
($1 = 0.7772 pounds)
(Reporting by Lawrence White; editing by Jason Neely)

Barclays sells Zimbabwe bank to Malawi’s First Merchant

Access to electricity is key to Africa’s future. It is the springboard to increased prosperity and a better quality of life. Without it, children struggle to study, ideas won’t be transformed into thriving businesses and the continent will never completely plug into the global economy.
But as many as seven in ten Africans can’t depend on reliable power. This is a huge brake, both on their ambitions and the continent’s development. Unless we can overcome this energy deficit, Africa’s economic and social progress will be crippled.
The scale of the challenge is clear. Only 60 per cent of properties in sub-Saharan Africa are connected to an electricity grid. Rural areas, in particular, find themselves cut off from power.
Millions of Africans know, connection itself is by no means a guarantee of reliable supply. Blackouts are a fact of everyday life across much of the continent.
		
				
		
In Ghana, Afrobarometer found that, while 87 per cent of homes are connected to a grid, less than half enjoyed reliable power. The African Development Bank discovered that manufacturers lose an average of 56 days a year of production because of power shortages.
And when energy does arrive, the price can be three times more than consumers pay in other regions – even in those countries with similar levels of economic development. When businesses or families have to rely on diesel-based generators, costs can be even higher.
With Africa’s population forecast to double to 2.4 billion by 2050, the continent is set to make up nearly a quarter of the global workforce. Managing the mismatch between power supply and demand requires urgent action. This is why providing the power Africa needs ranks among the most important global challenges.
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Africa does not lack energy resources. The continent has vast fossil fuel reserves, and will be powered by renewable energy in the longer term. Its climate in large parts provides ideal conditions for solar and wind power generation. Only a fraction of Africa’s hydroelectric and geothermal potential has yet been exploited.
Innovation, investment and partnerships are needed to harness this rich energy potential, and ensure the continent’s communities and businesses can prosper.
Since 2000, investment in sub-Saharan African energy supply has more than doubled. But it is still nowhere near enough to meet the shortfall in generation capacity and, critically, to put in place the infrastructure to get electricity to the entire continent.
Official estimates show that sub-Saharan Africa will need $450 billion in power sector investment within the next 20-30 years. Most of this will have to come from outside our continent.
This is why partnerships are so critical to overcoming Africa’s energy challenge. We need the courage to forge new partnerships and show investors the rewards of working with African governments and companies, to drive growth within the continent. In turn, governments will have to work hard to provide the stable conditions to attract investment.
We also need to take a regional view. One successful example is the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). SAPP connects 12 countries across the region. This means that power coming from a new gas-powered plant in north-east Mozambique won’t just help get electricity to the 70 per cent of the population in that country without access. It also offers the possibility of sending it to places it is needed, such as Malawi or Zambia.
Just as we have adapted mobile technology to leapfrog the need for fixed phone networks, Africa can also lead the world in innovative energy solutions.
These solutions must also be combined with initiatives tailored to local conditions and communities, using the resources available in those places. In some areas, small-scale solar power combined with biomass technology can meet the needs of rural villages without expensive power lines having to be put in place.
Solutions must also be affordable for the consumer. For example, replacing charcoal with more affordable and environmental friendly briquettes saves consumers money, as well as the environment. Great Lakes Africa Energy is take a lead in such initiatives.
Tackling Africa’s energy deficit must be a priority for the continent. But it should also be high on the global agenda. Providing access to reliable and affordable energy is key to Africa’s prosperity. And a prosperous Africa is key to a strong global economy in the decades ahead.
*Humphrey Kariuki is Chairman of Great Lakes Africa Energy and the Dalbit Group

Op-ed: Tackling Africa’s energy deficit must be a priority for the continent

Democracy has allowed the proliferation of small political parties on the African continent. Is this a retrogressive development to the very democracy we want to see thrive? Asks Teresa Chirwa-Ndanga, of The Global Communiqué.
It is encouraging that virtually all African countries have embraced democratic systems over the years. What used to hang in the balance was a ruling party’s ‘inability’ to lose elections and step down as a result. In recent years, we have seen more incumbent governments step down after losing elections. Recall: Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana and Malawi were good examples. However, democracies have allowed the proliferation of small parties, which I argue, are failing to make a significant mark on the political scene. These ‘small’ parties offer no ideological difference and I contend that the proliferation of such political parties is a retrogressive development to the very democracy we want to see thrive.
<h3>Malawi as a Case Study </h3>
Malawi currently has close to 60 registered political parties – this is against a population of about 17 million people with approximately 7.5 million registered voters (according to the 2014 voter register). Of the 60 political parties, none actually articulates a particular ideology for which they stand.  Most of the parties are only formed after some disgruntled individual leaves a bigger political party. They are mostly formed to satisfy someone’s ego as a result of someone’s quest for power. Political parties have become a vehicle for power rather than a means to achieve political activism for the betterment of society.
With respect to Malawi’s most recent general election, in 2014, there were 11 presidential candidates. Ten of them participated in a first ever presidential debate that ended up to be a platform for them to articulate what they would do once in office, none of their views strikingly differed to each other. That begged the question: upon what basis does an electorate make a decision for whom to vote for? It appears political parties sell individual personalities.
The result in the 2014 Malawi presidential election was a clear indication that some of these small parties are better completely off the political scene or rather consolidated together. There were four major political parties: the now ruling Democratic Progressive Party, the Major Opposition Malawi Congress Party, the then ruling People’s Party,  and the United Democratic Front. The four main political parties did relatively well. There were, however, seven other political parties that got no more than one percent of the vote – of the seven only one of them managed to get a seat in parliament, with many of the presidential candidates who had also contested at parliamentary level even failing to make it to parliament. This was a clear demonstration that many of the voters did not have confidence in them.
I submit that the multiplicity of small parties defeats the whole purpose of political party pluralism; which I agree that democracies should embrace. Many of the small political parties only become active during election season; upon which time, they often times do not win any political seat.
<h3>Should Small Political Parties Be Deregistered? </h3>
I argue for ‘political discipline’. Political discipline refers to the process of deregistration of political parties when such a party does not win any seat in an election and thereafter does not engage in any political activism (before or after the election season), which is therefore of no benefit to the country to keep such a political party active. A requirement that a party should win a seat in parliament or local council would motivate political parties to invest in political activities. Parties will invest in political activism outside election cycle years.
We need to begin to question the motivation of registering a new political party that has no noticeable difference in ideologies with the already existent political parties. Malawian researchers Nixon Khembo and Eric Mcheka observed in their study that “It is easy for parties in Malawi to emerge, merge, disintegrate or form alliances and coalitions. The cost of party formation and access to electoral contest is low and the legal threshold for political parties is liberal.”
The registrar of political parties in Malawi registers parties that have shown evidence that they have 100 members who are Malawians and are of the voting age. When they meet this requirement, all they need to provide would be the party name, two copies each of the constitution, rules and manifesto of the party, the address of its office, a list of names and addresses of party leaders and office bearers signed by each, a list of names and addresses of 100 party members signed by each.
<h3>Conclusion </h3>
There may be a number of issues that need to be changed to achieve rationality in the political arena, these include: the increase in the number of members one needs to be able to register a political party, this will ensure party leaders invest in securing as many signatories as possible. There may also be a need to introduce some party registration fee (this has been controversial in other country contexts). This would show a commitment to follow through with the roles of a political party. Emphasis should also be put on the manifesto which should talk of the ideologies that particular parties wish to represent. This will ultimately ensure a competitive political party pluralist system for the benefit of the nation and electorate.
<h5>This post first appeared on <a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/2017/04/malawi-caught-up-in-unhealthy-political-party-pluralism/">The Global Communiqué</a>. </h5>

Is political pluralism a threat to Malawi?

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Barclays is in exclusive talks to sell its stake in its Zimbabwe unit to Malawi-based First Merchant Bank, the lenders said on Tuesday, as the British bank continues its exit from Africa.
First Merchant Bank said in a statement on its website it was in exclusive talks to buy out the 68 percent of Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe owned by the British company.
A spokeswoman for Barclays confirmed the bank was in early discussions with a prospective buyer for its stake in the Zimbabwe bank.
Neither party disclosed a value for the prospective deal. Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe has a market capitalisation of $60 million, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Barclays previously said it was looking to sell the stake as part of a broader exit from Africa announced a year ago when Chief Executive Jes Staley said the lender would instead focus on a transatlantic strategy in the United States and Britain.
Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe is one of two banks together with Barclays Bank Egypt that do not form part of the lender&#8217;s South Africa-based Barclays Africa Group, which is also up for sale.
The remaining 32 percent of Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe&#8217;s shares are traded on the Zimbabwe stock exchange.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Mark Potter)
© Thomson Reuters 2017 All rights reserved

Barclays in talks to sell Zimbabwe bank

Just a few weeks after the <a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php">Paris Climate Change Agreement</a> officially came into force, the latest analysis concluded that even if it is fully implemented, we are heading for a 2.9°C- 3.4°C increase in warming.
This won’t come as a surprise to anyone remotely familiar with the topic of climate change. It also won’t come as a surprise to hear that Africa will bear the brunt of the negative consequences tied to these changes.
With a 2°C increase, agriculture yields of key food staples will decline by up to 40%, <a href="http://apps.unep.org/publications/pmtdocuments/-Africa%E2%80%99s_Adaptation_Gap_2__.pdf">resulting in</a> a 25%-90% increase in incidences of undernourishment and putting 50% of Africa’s population at risk of undernourishment.
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Rising sea levels will also badly affect our beautiful coastal cities, putting <a href="http://apps.unep.org/publications/pmtdocuments/-Africa%E2%80%99s_Adaptation_Gap_2__.pdf">millions at risk of flooding</a>, and threatening to reverse economic and development gains with the ensuing damage to infrastructure, loss of touristic sites and disruption in food supply.
It won’t come as a surprise because we talk about it all the time. What we’re not doing is acting. The time now is to match our words with actions. But how do we do that?
<h2>Moving from words to action</h2>
Practical approaches do exist, and one sector in particular offers much hope: the clean energy industry, which is closely related to the issue of climate-proof agriculture. If we make progress in this area, we can not only tackle climate-related challenges, but socio-economic ones as well, such as food security, job creation and macro-economic growth.
One way to move from talk to action in this area is through something called ecosystem-based adaptation in mainstream farming techniques. This has already been done, for example, in Niger, where the technique has been used to <a href="http://www.agro.uba.ar/users/semmarti/Poblacion/Godfray-2010ScienceFoodSecurityFeeding9billion.pdf">rehabilitate up to 300,000 hectares of barren land</a>. In other places, it has been shown to lead to a <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/ian-fitzpatrick/to-address-global-food-crisis-we-have-to-address-power-of-big-agribusiness">128% yield increase</a>, which would not only boost food security but would also enhance farmer income, thus helping to combat poverty.
<h2>All hands on deck</h2>
It’s often said that the only way we’ll achieve change is if everyone – government, business, civil society – is involved. But again, how do we move from words to action in this area?
The concept of ecosystem-based adaptation provides another look at how this could happen in practice. Through <a href="http://www.ebafosa.org/">EBAFOSA</a>, global, regional and national stakeholders are being brought together to create mutual partnerships for climate change action.
http://cnbc.africa/news/special-report/2016/11/18/protecting-and-developing-african-agriculture-in-the-face-of-climate-change/
In Malawi, for example, EBAFOSA is building mutual partnerships between EBA-agriculture actors and the Malawi Bureau of Standards to establish quality standards for EBA products and enhance their marketability in local and export markets. By doing so, it encourages local actors to put in place these climate-friendly techniques. This is then reinforced at the national level, through a National Export Strategy that is prioritizing the export of high-value, climate-resilient food crops – such as <a href="http://www.farmafrica.org/tanzania/sesame-marketing">sesame</a>, a drought-tolerant crop that requires less water than more traditional crops such as maize.
http://cnbc.africa/insights/energy-environment/2017/03/16/how-to-save-africas-forest/
These lessons from Malawi will be replicated across the 40 EBAFOSA member countries in Africa, therefore ensuring the transformation of adaptation commitment into actions across the continent.
<h2>Time for Africa to repair its roof</h2>
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining,” John F. Kennedy once said. This is certainly true when it comes to climate change in Africa. It is now time to convert opportunity into reality.
The irrefutable dire scientific warnings show very clearly how serious this challenge is. We have spent enough time talking about it, but now we must set about tackling it. We need to do so for the mother who cannot feed her new-born child with the proper food to live beyond the age of five. We must do so for the 240 million Africans who go to bed with a stomach aching from hunger. We must do so for the 620 million citizens who don’t have reliable access to energy. Doing so is the only way we can ensure the African continent never again experiences the fear of want or need.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the institution with which he is affiliated
This article was first published on Tuesday 29 November 2016 at: <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/stop-talking-about-climate-action-in-africa-and-start-doing-something">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/stop-talking-about-climate-action-in-africa-and-start-doing-something</a>  and is republished with WEF’s permission

Stop talking about climate action in Africa and start doing something

Pop star Madonna debuted two new daughters on social media on Wednesday, saying she had completed her adoption of the twins from Malawi and was &#8220;overjoyed&#8221; to bring them into her family.
The singer, 58, was granted permission by Malawi&#8217;s High Court this week to adopt the twin girls.
She posted a photo on Instagram of herself walking along a rural path with the girls, who were wearing identical blue and white dresses and one wearing a hat.
&#8220;I am deeply grateful to all those in Malawi who helped make this possible, and I ask the media please to respect our privacy during this transitional time,&#8221; the singer said in her post.
No details were given on the twins&#8217; names, age and background.
Madonna adopted Malawian children David Banda and Mercy James in 2006 and 2009. She has two other children, Lourdes and Rocco, from previous relationships.
The singer previously denied reports that she wanted to adopt again after she visited Malawi last month, at the time saying her trip was for her charity work.
She established the non-profit Raising Malawi in 2006 to provide health and education programs, particularly for girls.
 
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Tom Brown)﻿

Madonna introduces newly adopted twin girls from Malawi

Malawian President Peter Mutharika has apparently made good on threats made in 2016 to act against elements of the media that he accused of anti-government agendas after a clearly politically motivated crackdown on a leading media house for the old, overused excuse of tax arrears.
Last Friday, January13, Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) officials and police forced the closure of the Times Media Group – a major Malawian media house with a reputation for poking the government bear – on the clearly trumped-up charges of tax arrears &#8211; a lesson apparently learnt from Zambian authorities who used a similar tactic to silence their critics last year.
The government continues to have a chilly relationship with elements of the country’s civil society, specifically the media, and there has been an apparent hardening of attitude on the part of the ruling party under Mr Mutharika.
Last November, Mr Mutharika suggested key elements of the country’s media were stepping out of line and our sources at the time said the most likely targets were radio stations and the Times Media Group, publishers of Malawi News, The Daily Times, Sunday Times and operators of Times Radio and Times TV.
Fast forward to January 2017 and the Times Media Group was indeed targeted by an increasingly frustrated regime unhappy with the group’s coverage of what has become known as ‘MaizeGate’ – a reference to a shady deal to purchase maize from Zambia.
The ins and outs of the deal are complicated and often disputed, but what seems clear and was pursued by the Times Media Group, among others, in a series of articles was that the state-owned Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) was to purchase 100,000 tonnes of maize from Zambia in a so-called government-to-government deal.
However, local media began to report that in fact the deal was signed with a private Zambian company called Kaloswe Commuter and Courier Ltd and was not an inter-government contract.
Government denied this, but continuing reports of high-level corruption and a “stinky deal” plunged the transaction into ever-deepening controversy.
While Admarc continues to insist it was buying grain from the Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF), Malawian media have reported that Admarc was in fact using Kaloswe Commuter and Courier Limited. There are additional allegations of over-payment, enriched middlemen and over-pricing in order to repay loans: all leading to a media storm that the Mutharika regime has decided to repress.
On Monday, January 16, the Journalists Union of Malawi (Juma) slammed what it called the “invisible political machinations” behind the action by the MRA to seal the headquarters of the Times Media Group because of alleged outstanding tax payments.
Juma President Mtheto Lungu and Secretary General Charles Nkula said they saw the action as a desperate regime attempt to protect the battered image of the government.
“The authorities are using the state machinery in trying to muzzle the media group from further providing the local and international community with information regarding the belligerent purchase of maize from Zambia,“ Juma said.
The Nyasa Times reported that the Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) Director John Kapito called the procurement process “stinky” and “humiliating” to the political leadership for its suspected corruption.
The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), meanwhile, said the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) should institute an investigation into reports of corruption in the purchase of maize from Zambia “as a matter of urgency.”
We do not believe for a moment that the reasons provided for the action against the Times Media Group are legitimate or credible and agree with most civil society voices in the country that the action is political.
There are two major issues of concern here and several adjunct ones. Firstly, there remains a clear reluctance on the part of the Mutharika government to act against corruption and, more specifically, to act against his allies in the cabinet who appear to have a case to answer as seems to be the situation here with the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water George Chaponda.
Secondly, the reaction of the regime is damaging its relationship with civil society, specifically the media, and its attempts to intimidate and harass critical voices are political risk negative.
The combination of those developments spells trouble for Malawi in regard to its overall political risk profile that has already slid backward under the Mutharika presidency.
The media crackdown and refusal to act decisively against corruption in government and state ranks is a recipe for disaster as it leads to increased repression and deteriorating governance – both of which are moving in the wrong direction.﻿

Op-Ed: Malawi – Corruption and repression pose growing stability threats

Why has Africa had so few women leaders? T<a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/author/teresa-chirwa-ndanga/">eresa Chirwa-Ndanga</a>﻿ examines a new study by a lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Malawi <a href="https://www.cmi.no/publications/5794-the-joyce-banda-effect">Tiyesere Mercy Chikapa</a> and comes to some startling conclusions.﻿ Below is her article &#8211; it first appeared on <a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/2016/12/africas-indecision-on-female-presidents/">The Global Communiqué</a>﻿ and is republished with its permission﻿.
The world had its first elected female leader in 1960 – Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike. Africa’s chance of an elected female president only came in 2006 when Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf contested in the presidential election and won. In 2015, Mauritius had its first elected female president, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who was elected through a parliamentary vote.
Out of nine female heads of state and government that Africa has had, only these two secured an actual vote to lead their countries. The rest assumed their positions in acting capacities – which is probably why the fact that Africa has had up to nine female heads of state and government may be a surprise to any reader.
Malawi’s first female president Joyce Banda assumed office in 2012 after the death in office of an elected president, Bingu wa Mutharika. By virtue of having been the vice president at the time, the Constitution of Malawi granted her the mandate to govern for the rest of the presidential term. As a result of the constitutional directive, she served for two years – thereby being the longest time-period a female president has had to serve in an acting capacity in Africa. However, in 2014 during the election period in Malawi, Joyce Banda failed to garner sufficient votes to legitimize her mandate at the ballot box. She ranked third having secured only 18 percent of the total votes.
Female Heads of State around the World
Europe had its first democratically elected president in 1980 through Iceland’s Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who served until 1996. She remains the world’s longest serving female head of state.
Europe has produced the highest number of female heads of state and government. This is evidenced by the <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/rankings/">2016 Global Gender Gap</a> Index ranking, which reveals that six of the top ten stellar country performers are in Europe.
Other female leaders in the region have included <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/ireland">Ireland</a>’s Presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson, Finland’s President Tarja Kaarina Halonen, the <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/united-kingdom">United Kingdom</a>’s Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and currently Theresa May.
Europe’s comparatively exceptional performance with regards to gender parity, emanates from domesticating gender equality in its culture. Many European countries incorporate either party or legislative gender quotas in politics. Although parliamentary representation still remains relatively low, the rate has steadily improved. Over the years, the quota system has allowed female politicians a platform to showcase their capabilities, such that it is no longer uncommon for women to rise to the positions of heads of state and government.
Latin America has also produced a number of female heads of state and government, partly due to the gender quota system which has been a stepping stone for women’s political careers.
In Asia, there are cases where women have led their nations by virtue of family succession. In 1960, the world’s first female head of state, Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike was the widow of former Prime Minister, Solomon Bandaranaike who was assassinated in 1959. Her daughter Chandrika Kumaranatunga later served as president between 1994 – 2005. India’s Indira Gandhi was the daughter of the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Corazon Aquino of the Phillipines, was the wife of assassinated senator Benigno Ninoy Aquino, Jr. Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan’s 11th prime minister) was the daughter of former president and prime minister of the country.
Malawi does not have the gender quota system. The country has also not seen a considerable number of women rise from family traditions to take up leadership positions such as that of the presidency. Therefore, a female candidate wishing to run for the presidency in Malawi would need to seek her party’s approval through a party convention to be its presidential candidate and then only later contest in a presidential election.
But the situation was different for Joyce Banda, the country’s first female president. In 2012, then Vice President Banda suddenly found herself becoming a head of state following the death in office of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She assumed office at the height of economic turmoil in the country.
Within the two years of her tenure, Joyce Banda was able to ensure that fuel and foreign currency were available in the country – prior to her tenure, foreign currency was scarce and there was no stable supply of fuel. However, within the same two years, Joyce Banda also witnessed the worst financial scandal to ever hit Malawi. Many analysts have argued that this financial scandal cost her the presidency in the ensuing elections of 2014. Many have played down the fact that gender may have played a role, rightly so perhaps as opinion polls of women representation in Malawi indicate strong support for women’s political rights and for equal female representation in politics. <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Dispatch/ab_r6_dispatchno14.pdf">A 2013 Afrobarometer</a> study indicated that 52 percent of respondents were in support of equal female representation.
But a new study by a lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Malawi <a href="https://www.cmi.no/publications/5794-the-joyce-banda-effect">Tiyesere Mercy Chikapa</a> suggests the opinion polls on equal female representation may not be accurate reflections of voters’ inner beliefs, which is why in Joyce Banda’s case, the voter could not give her another mandate to govern through the ballot.
“People are often unwilling or unable to report accurately on sensitive topics for ego defensive or impression management reasons, thus providing answers that the respondent believes are politically correct or socially acceptable,” writes Chikapa in a brief about her study conducted in 2014.
Chikapa’s study and conclusion makes a lot of sense and accurately reflects the dynamics that took place in Malawi in the case of Joyce Banda – where the standard to which she was subjected were higher as compared to those her male counterparts were subjected. For example, Joyce Banda was harshly judged and criticized for what is considered to be theft that took place (arising from the financial scandal) which occurred even under the Bingu wa Mutharika regime.
Instead, the Democratic Progressive Party which had put Malawians under a lot of suffering prior to Joyce Banda’s ascendancy to the presidency, just two years prior, was entrusted with the task of correcting Malawi’s problems once again in 2014.
The financial scandal under the first female president of Malawi made voters doubt a woman’s capabilities of being a leader. “This has made voters to believe that a woman cannot be a political leader,” stated a female respondent in Chiakapa’s study. Another male respondent said the following concerning Joyce Banda:
“What happened under the leadership of Joyce Banda made voters to doubt women’s capabilities. Broad day-light stealing to millions of kwacha (Malawi currency) made voters doubt women’s capabilities in leadership positions like that of members of parliament.”
Theft of public resources was not uncommon in Malawi under all the country’s presidents. While the magnitude of the theft may be a question for debate, the corruption and theft of these resources in the previous regimes under male presidents did not turn out to be a blanket conclusion of failure by men to govern. Furthermore, other male candidates who vied for political office such as that of a member of parliament were not branded as failures for the underperformance of a previous male presidents.
Following from what has been dubbed the ‘underperformance’ of Joyce Banda, the number of female candidates who made it during the parliamentary race tumbled. It dropped from 22.3 percent to the current 16.7 percent, in what Chikapa’s study terms as the ‘Joyce Banda effect’.
Certainly in Malawi’s scenario, a female leader’s failures were tied to her sex and furthermore, fellow female candidates received a backlash, simply for being female candidates at the same time a female president had not performed to expectation, a scenario only unique to female.
Any future for female presidential candidates in Africa?
I admire the courage and zeal of my former schoolmate at Harvard Kennedy School Fadumo Dayib who is running for presidency in Somalia, a country largely built on Islamic beliefs. In this year’s election which was supposed to be the first democratic poll, only about 14, 000 people, representing the country’s clans, are to cast their votes to choose representatives for both the lower house, which together with the upper house will choose a president.
Dayib confessed to Foreign Policy’s online publication that in the current scenario her chances of winning were very slim. I agree.
Somalia’s first female presidential candidate would have a chance in two scenarios; either in a parliamentary system that does not use the clan system or where the gender quotas have been effectively implemented over a long period of time.
The first option may work best for female presidential aspirants in Africa. Just as it has worked in Mauritius for Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, that country’s first female president who took office on June 5, 2015. In such a parliamentary system, women vying for presidential office would mostly struggle at getting their party’s nod to lead their respective political parties. Past that stage, it may be much easier to win the parliamentary vote as long as their political party has a strong representation in the house.
Conversely, the presidential system will remain the toughest for female candidates in Africa to make a breakthrough. Here they would be dealing with multitudes whose attitudes and opinions about women and women leaders may be shaped by societal stereotypes of this gender. Such attitudes, in patriarchal societies in Africa, are difficult to change.
It is true of course that gender quotas, both legislative and party quotas, have largely helped to boost the female representation in elected offices. Rwanda has been a leading example, not only in Africa but across the world. Women constitute 63 percent of the lower house’s representation in Rwanda’s parliament – the highest in the world. The gender quota system is also practiced in a number of Southern African countries including Burundi, Eritrea, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Angola. This generally has helped women’s visibility and as a result has the propensity to change societal perceptions on female leaders, particularly as it relates to African countries’ patriarchal nature. The gender quota system, notwithstanding its positives, it is yet to position women in becoming competitive presidential candidates to reckon with.
In the meantime, the parliamentary system presents best chances for women in Africa to take up heads of state positions.﻿

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