Malawi Industry & Trade: The Trade Ministry and National Product Magazine (NPM) toured Lilongwe industries, with Deputy Minister Edgar Tembo urging local manufacturers to keep producing despite foreign exchange and power disruptions, while firms flagged shortages and outages as production bottlenecks. Energy & Power: ESCOM signed a 50MW transmission connection deal with Press Energy Limited to evacuate solar power from Nkhoma (Lilongwe) into the national grid, a step aimed at easing load shedding. Pharma Manufacturing: Malawi’s 2026 Pharmacy Expo opened in Blantyre, pushing investors to expand local medicine production to cut import delays and improve access, as the country has only five local manufacturers. SME Growth: National Bank of Malawi (NBM) held an SME Day Exhibition in Mzuzu featuring 50 SMEs across agro-processing, manufacturing, textiles, food and tech, reinforcing support for MSMEs. Electricity Security: A Thyolo court sentenced four men to 18 years each for vandalising an ESCOM transformer worth K15.7m, signaling tougher action against utility theft. Agriculture & Food Security: In Mafinga, farmers were urged to prioritise food security and reserve maize for home use ahead of El Niño risks. Water & Costs: Water boards in Malawi submitted proposals for tariff hikes, citing rising operational expenses and financial sustainability pressures. Telecom Value: TNM and Airtel launched competing 30-day data bundles, with Airtel’s top tier offering extra bonus data at the same price point.