Malawian business journalists visit South Africa

“One way of teaching business journalists was to allow them exchange ideas with professional from other successful economies in the region,” said Anne Magola the Bank's Public Relations Manager.

The bank said it decided to take journalists to South Africa to expose them to operations in the biggest economy in the region. While there, the journalists visited Johannesburg Securities Exchange, Development Bank of South Africa, Reserve Bank of South Africa and other commercial entities.

In an interview soon after arrival from South Africa on Friday, Zodiak Broadcasting Station Business Reporter Tereza Chirwa, said she was impressed with what she saw.

She said among others while at the Reserve Bank of South Africa they met the central bank's Deputy Governor Jannie Rossouw who shed more light on the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)'s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan.

“Rossouw told us that part of the plan is to have a single currency in the SADC region by 2016; he said but this would not be possible because big economies like South Africa and Botswana would argue on whose currency terms to adopt,” she said.

Chirwa also said Rossouw told them that other currencies like that of Malawi would not be in a position to operate under the dictates of either of the two countries and this will bring problems on the single currency issue.

The media houses that have benefited from the trip include Zodiak Broadcasting Station, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Television Malawi, Blantyre Newspapers Limited publishers of The Daily Times, Malawi News and Sunday Times as well as the Nation Publications Limited publishers of a daily publication The Nation, Weekend Nation and Nation on Sunday.

The bank said it also conducted the tour as a response to a proposal from the newly established Association of Business Journalists.

Television Malawi's Business Editor Thomas Chafunya said the trip has been an eye-opener because it is the first of its kind for the Malawi media and it had given those on the trip “a platform to sharpen our skills”.

He said that what is more encouraging is that a player in the private sector has taken the initiative to expose Malawian journalists to the economic development in other countries.