Malawi

Getting Electricity in

Malawi

Below is a detailed summary of the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building in Malawi.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

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  • Standardized Company

  • Name of Utility: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM)
  • City: Blantyre

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Submit application with Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM), sign contract and await external inspection

The application can be submitted in person or by mail. A sketch map of the site for the power connection has to be attached to the application. It does not have to be notarized. The customer immediately signs the contract. The quotation and the security deposit are paid at the utility.
Agency: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) 		22 calendar days USD 12.1
* 2 Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) carries out external inspection of the site

The customer has to wait for the external inspection. The inspection is necessary to prepare a technical study. Someone from the customer’s party with an electrical background has to be present.
Agency: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) 		1 calendar day no charge
3 The client can purchase material on behalf of Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM)

The policy of the utility is to provide all material. However, the customer can also purchase material themselves that is not available. The customer would purchase material on behalf of ESCOM. The transformer would be property of ESCOM and not the customer. The customer can be refunded the part of material cost that exceed what he/she was to pay to ESCOM for connection charges as contribution to the total project cost. However, in practice the partly refund of connection cost is rarely done.
Agency: Customer 		105 calendar days MWK 4,700,000.0
* 4 The client obtain an excavation permit at the Road Assembly

A excavation permit is needed in case a road has to be crossed. The client obtains the excavation permit at the Road Authority and notify the City Council.
Agency: municipality 		14 calendar days MWK 10,000.0
5 Receive external connection works from Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM)

The utility is in charge of the design of the external connection. The physical works are carried out by the utility.
Agency: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) 		95 calendar days MWK 167,000.0
* 6 Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) carries out internal inspection and meter installation

There is an internal inspection when the meter is installed. Someone from the customer’s party has to be present. The meter is installed by the utility, however by another section than the one that did the works. Electricity starts flowing from the moment the connection is done.
Agency: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) 		1 calendar day MWK 250.0
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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