Malawi: Some Interesting Facts

Public Holidays

Date 2005 Occasion
January 1 New Year's Day  
January 15 John Chilembwe Day
March 3 Martyr's Day
March 25 Good Friday
March 27 Easter  
March 28 Easter Monday
May 1 Labour Day 
June 14 Freedom Day
July 6 Republic Day
October 10 Mothers' Day  
December 12 Arbour Day  
December 25 Christmas Day  
December 26 Boxing Day

Weekend - Saturday, Sunday
Islamic holidays depend on the sighting of the moon and can change from notified dates.

Customs & Duties

Malawi Customs officials will allow certain items for personal use without levying duty. A maximum of 200 cigarettes or 250g tobacco, 1 litre of spirits, 1 litre of beer or wine; 250ml of eau de toilet and 50g of perfume will not incur any duty. Passengers above 16 years only are allowed to bring in alcoholic substances. Narcotics and arms are not allowed in at all though the import of firearms is allowed after a permit has been bought in advance from the Registrar of Firearms, P O Box 41, Zomba.

Electricity

Electricity is supplied at 220/240 volts AC, 50Hz in Malawi. The standard plug used in most hotel rooms is the square 3-pin. If your electrical appliances have different settings/ plug pins, an adaptor or converter will be required so pack one in your luggage.

Weights & Measures

The standard Metric system is used in Malawi. This basically means that measurements used are grams and kilograms instead of ounces and pounds, litres instead of pints and kilometers in place of miles.

Tipping

Hotels and restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill that should mean a tip is not required but the waiters/other staff gets only a meagre 4% of the 10% while the rest goes to the Ministry of Tourism. Smaller establishments do not add the service charge so the staff in both kinds of places is happy to receive additional remuneration.

English Language Media

Malawi has a number of publications in English apart from the two main daily newspapers, The Daily Times and The Nation and the weekly newsmagazine, The Malawi News. Visitors can catch the English language broadcasts on BBC and VOA at different frequencies (frequencies change from time to time).