Reflecting on discussions at a Malawian ‘unconference’ on information technology, Steve Sharra considers IT’s future role in the lives of Malawians. With ‘billions of kwacha’ leaving the country in the form of software licences to northern companies, considerable Malawian taxpayer money ends up being spent on proprietary software, despite governmental indifference. As Sharra emphasises, Malawian ingenuity around application development and the use of open source software should be much better supported in the struggle to improve the country’s education system.

The Malawian government has again stood firm in the face of calls by the European Union (EU) to sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) -- even after top-level EU officials visited the southern Africa to convince it to put pen to paper. The EU delegation, led by the European Commission’s (EC) director for development and EPAs Peter Thompson and EU Ambassador to Malawi Alexander Baum, engaged Malawi’s top trade officials at a two-day meeting on Jul 26 and 27 in the country’s commercial capital, Blantyre.

As government implements a new HIV/AIDS treatment regimen according to latest world standards, a major grouping of non-governmental organisations are concerned that the high cost of the new medication will mean government will no longer be able provide free treatment to as many people as before. The Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (MANET+) advocacy officer George Kampango told IPS that the new drugs, which cost three times as much as the current regime used, will be too expensive for government to manage providing free treatment to the poor and children.