Minister of Trade and Industry, Engineer Vitumbiko Mumba has warned bakeries in the country to lower bread prices or face closure.

The warning serves as a means to protect consumers from price hikes despite reductions in flour prices by suppliers.

Mumba made the warning on Monday during a follow up visit to BreadTalk Bakery at Crossroads Complex in Lilongwe.

The visit was aimed at verifying whether the bakery had implemented the agreed price reduction for bread.

"The Ministry of Trade and Industry together with other government departments is making sure that prices for essential goods such as bread and oil do not escalate.

We visited BreadTalk today  to confirm whether or not the prices have decreased as per our agreement. Indeed they have reduced from K4,100 to K3,800 per loaf, however, we are not satisfied with the reduction as such we have given the management of Breadtalk 48 hours to revise the price," Mumba said.

Mumba also visited Capital Foods Limited, a wheat flour production company, which reduced flour prices from K230,000 to K120,000 per 50kg bag.

The Minister commended their compliance, urging other companies to follow suit.

At Happie Foods, a cooking oil production factory owned by an indigenous Malawian, Mumba expressed satisfaction with the reduced oil price from K150,000 to K100,000 per 20-litre bucket, encouraging other producers and retailers to adopt similar measures.

 "We are satisfied that the price has reduced from K150,000 to K100,000 per 20-litre bucket. I am calling on all cooking oil production companies as well as retailers to reduce their prices just like Happie Foods. Particularly am pleased to see an indigenous Malawian daring the cooking oil industry which has mostly been run by non indigenous," he said.

On his part, Owner of Happie Foods, Happie Nyirenda said the Government’s initiative has enabled him to have access to forex to help his investment.

"I am now selling cooking oil at K100,000 per 20 litre bucket and chances are high that I might decrease the price to K90, 000. As such, I am appealing to fellow cooking oil producers to decrease their prices."

"Currently most of these suppliers are selling cooking oil at K120,000 from K150,000 per 20 litre bucket," He added.

Government's move to bail out the productive sector is part of a broader strategy to ensure prices of essential goods do not escalate and punish ordinary Malawians.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Eng. Vitumbiko A.Z. Mumba, has issued a stern warning to wholesalers and shop owners involved in the Kaunjika (second-hand clothing) business, cautioning them against unethical trade practices.

Speaking today during a roundtable discussion at Sunbird Capital Hotel Marquee in Lilongwe,  Mumba expressed concerns over the deteriorating quality of Kaunjika goods, especially among Chinese-owned enterprises.

"Malawians and our brothers, Malawians of Indian, Pakistan and Lebanese origin have been selling Kaunjika of good quality for a long time. But ever since we opened up to the Chinese, the Chinese have always lowered the quality and taken Malawi as a dumping ground for poor quality products," said Mumba

The minister warned that businesses engaging in such practices risk having their licenses revoked.

"As a minister, I've got the powers to revoke licenses for non-complying wholesalers. I didn’t want to act before you," Mumba stated. "I came here to warn you. I don't speak or act without verifying facts on the ground. If you see me revoking licenses, it's after I’ve warned you myself, as directed by President Chakwera."

Responding to concerns raised by traders, Mumba assured business owners that government is committed to providing them with access to foreign exchange to support their operations as long as they adhere to the directive to go back to the December, 2024 prices and comply with the relevant laws regulating the business.

He further warned the traders not to take advantage of the election period in order to deliberately break laws. He also disclosed that he was aware of the cartels destroying the industry.

"Otherwise, government will be left with no choice but to limit the Kaunjika industry to Malawians only."

Representing the Malawian Kaunjika retailers was Steve Magombo who commended the minister for engaging directly with traders, describing the meeting as timely.

"This discussion has come at a much-needed time when we have been facing various challenges, especially with arbitrary price hikes where you get the price of a bale of second-hand clothes rise by more than 50,000 or sometimes 100 thousand over a space of 3 days or 1 week making it very difficult for the retailer to make business and for the local consumer to understand," Magombo explained.

The meeting aimed to address key issues affecting the Kaunjika sector and foster a collaborative approach between the government and stakeholders.

Over the past weeks, Mumba has been meeting with various Kaunjika vendors’ associations across the country to better understand their concerns.

With the government taking a firm stance on compliance and ethical business conduct, the sector could see significant changes in the coming months.

Today's indaba had wholesalers of the Malawian of Indian, Pakistan and Lebanese origin, the Asian and Chinese wholesalers, as well as indigenous Malawian wholesalers including a representation of Kaunjika vendors' leadership from Limbe, Blantyre and Lilongwe.