Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has elected Karl Chokotho as its new president to replace Newton Kambala whose two-year tenure of office expired in March.
Chokotho was elected during the chamber’s 122nd Annual General Meeting held on Friday at the Chichiri Conference Centre Hall in Blantyre.
He said that while increasing membership to the chamber will be one of his priorities, he will also continue lobbying government to better the business environment.
Chokotho, a business administration 1995 graduate from the University of Malawi, the Polytechnic and is the managing director of CMA CGM Shipping Agency Limited.
He served the chamber as a councilor in the MCCCI board for the past two years.
Chokotho will be duputised by Farmer Union of Malawi (FUM) chief executive officer, Price Kapondamgaga.
In his farewell speech, Kambala said that he leaves office at a time when the economy is not in good shape, calling for more support from the sector to the chamber.
“Total membership for the chamber has slowed down to 260 in 2015 compared to 285 in 2014 mainly on account of challenges in the economic environment that affected the ability of businesses to renew their membership,” he said.
However, Kambala said during his two-year tenure, quite a number of things have improved, such as, government payment of private sector arrears, and chambers general rapport with government.
