Malawi

Ease of Doing Business in

Malawi

This page shows summary Doing Business 2012 data for Malawi. The first table lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 183 economies) and the rankings by each topic. The rest of the tables summarize the key indicators for each topic and benchmark against regional and high-income economy (OECD) averages.

Economy Overview

Region Sub-Saharan Africa
Income Category Low income
Population 14,900,841
GNI Per Capita (US$) 330.00
Doing Business 2012 Rank Doing Business 2011 Rank Change in Rank
145 141 down -4
Topic Rankings DB 2012 Rank DB 2011 Rank Change in Rank
Starting a Business 139 132 up -7
Dealing with Construction Permits 167 167 No change
Getting Electricity 177 178 up 1
Registering Property 95 80 up -15
Getting Credit 126 116 up -10
Protecting Investors 79 74 up -5
Paying Taxes 23 22 up -1
Trading Across Borders 164 163 up -1
Enforcing Contracts 121 122 up 1
Resolving Insolvency 132 131 up -1

Economy Profile

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Starting a Business

Info

The challenges of launching a business are shown below. Included are: the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.

DB 2012 Rank 139 DB 2011 Rank 132 Change in Rank down-7
Indicator Malawi Sub-Saharan Africa OECD

The total number of procedures required to register a firm. A procedure is defined as any interaction of the company founders with external parties (for example, government agencies, lawyers, auditors or notaries).

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Procedures (number)
10 8 5

The total number of days required to register a firm. The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments.

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Time (days)
39 37 12

Cost is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita. It includes all official fees and fees for legal or professional services if such services are required by law.

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Cost (% of income per capita)
90.9 81.2 4.7

The amount that the entrepreneur needs to deposit in a bank or with a notary before registration and up to 3 months following incorporation and is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita.

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Paid-in Min. Capital (% of income per capita)
0.0 129.8 14.1
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Initiate a company name search. 1 day MWK 500
2 Submit application for a Certificate of Incorporation to the Registrar General, Ministry of Justice. 3-7 days if done in person, 14 days by mail MWK 1,000 + MWK 100 for first MWK 1,000 of capital, and MWK 15 for every MWK 2,000 or part of capital thereafter
3 Register for payment of income tax with the Malawi Revenue Authority 1 day if application is hand delivered no charge
4 Obtain a company seal 3-4 days MWK 19,000
* 5 File an application form to obtain a license from the City Assembly 29 days including time of publication, simultaneous with procedure 4 MWK 400 Blantyre City Assembly
* 6 Inspection of premises for the issue of the license 14 days, simultaneous with procedure 5 no charge
* 7 Pay license fee upon approval of license and obtain license 1 day, simultaneous with procedure 5 20000
* 8 Apply for a registration of the workplace 28 days, simultaneous with procedure 5 MWK 1,000, depends on the number of employees
* 9 Inspection of premises by the Occupational Safety, Health, and Welfare Department 7 days, simultaneous with procedure 5 no charge
* 10 Register for PAYE and fringe benefit tax with the Malawi Revenue Authority by mail 1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

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