Kwacha gain hits NGO hard

While government is patting itself on the back for the appreciation of the kwacha, some quarters of society are feeling the pinch as the strength of the local currency is negatively impacting on their businesses.

Tobacco farmers were the first to raise the alarm after realising dwindling earnings in kwacha from their ‘green gold’ immediately the local unit started gaining strength in early April.

At its annual general meeting (AGM) held in Blantyre on Saturday, Feed the Children Malawi (FTC) outgoing board chairperson Walter Saukila disclosed that the organisation is also affected by the appreciation of the local currency.

He said they have been having problems to balance their accounts since the kwacha started to appreciate against major trading currencies such as the dollar, euro and rand.

The Blantyre-based FTC provides skills to children with disabilities through comprehensive medical, social, educational and vocational rehabilitation with funding from a French organisation—Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM).

“Today, we are receiving K60 000 [about $150] less on every K600 000 [about $15 000] after exchanging the dollars from its international benefactors. This has negatively impacted on our operations. Honestly speaking, the appreciation of the kwacha has not benefitted us,” said Saukila.

He said because of this, the organisation has been forced to shelve some of the critical services.

“If we had not shelved some programmes, the organisation would not have been here today,” he said.

FTC executive director Simon Mwale announced that the American Embassy has provided K4 million for the production and distribution of assistive devices, wheelchairs to 170 children with disabilities as well as educating 100 parents of children with disabilities in HIV and Aids issues.