Britain has offered to support the Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) project with $50 million, as Acting UK High Commissioner to Malawi, Dave Beer, announced the development to the Minister of Trade, Sosten Gwengwe.

TMEA was established as a non-profit making institution for aid for trade delivery in East Africa, as the Department for International Development (DFID), has since shown strong interest in funding the five year program, courtesy of its planned Malawi Trade and Investment Program (M-TIP).

Following the development, Malawi’s exports to the east African market are expected to spike, even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Gwengwe, the project will focus on improving trade along the key trade corridors for Malawi and supporting priority export value chains.

The good news follows after Oxfam’s recently released policy brief has said that Malawi’s trade gap is expected to worsen this year as the country intensifies focus on imports of covid-19 related items. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Trade has made room for imports and exports other than the usual covid-19 related products. According to the ministry’s spokesperson Mayeso Msokera, traders are now allowed to export after the government issues letters of credence for the products to be allowed passage and entry into the destination country.