‘Govt to honour Air Malawi debts’

Government as the shareholder of Air Malawi has pledged to honour all debts and liabilities of the national flag carrier as part of restructuring efforts and search for a strategic equity partner, the Privatisation Commission (PC) said on Wednesday.

The debt and liabilities are in billions of kwacha.

PC chief executive officer Jimmy Lipunga told a news conference in Blantyre City government, through the commission, is seeking expressions of interest for inclusion in a list of prequalified bidders.

This is a step towards selection of a competent strategic equity partner (SEP) to acquire new shares in Air Malawi through a recapitalisation scheme, said Lipunga.

“I want to assure creditors that there is no need to be anxious because government has made an undertaking to honour all the liabilities. There is no need to panic as a result of this action,” he said.

Lipunga said they will engage auditors to assess the assets and liabilities of the company to work out a scheme of statement based on the audit.

He said to sustain the country’s Bilateral Air Services Agreement (Basa), the level of participation within the SEP should bring the participation of Malawian nationals, both with the SEP and government shareholding in Air Malawi to 51 percent.

“For this purpose, Air Malawi Limited excludes its wholly owned subsidiaries, Air Cargo Limited and Lilongwe Handling Company Limited. The subsidiaries will subsequently be delinked from Air Malawi Limited as a separate restructuring exercise,” he said.

When asked to comment on the job losses as part of the restructuring exercise, Lipunga said their desire is to get an investor who will maximise employment opportunities.

He said, however, that in any ailing industry, it is inevitable to have job losses as a result of the restructuring.

Lipunga, however, said Air Malawi has a number of employees who have reached their retirement age and could opt for voluntary retirement to reduce the likelihood of massive retrenchments.

He said the partner will also look at the technical skills of some employees to be retained.

Air Malawi industry and tariff affairs manager Tony Chimpukuso said while they are looking forward to the restructuring exercise, they want a partner who will maintain the brand and not absorb it.

This is not the first time for PC to engage in the search for a partner.