Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) was established under the Communications Act (1998), Cap 68:01 of the Laws of Malawi and its Mandate is to regulate and develop the Information Communications Technology (ICT) Sector in Malawi.

In order to achieve its Mandate, MACRA undertook several reforms under the Public Sector Reforms Programme that was launched by His Excellency President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika in February, 2015.
Some of the reforms that MACRA is undertaking are the following:

National Addressing Project
MACRA developed the National Physical Addressing Standards and rolled out the Pilot Phase of the project in Blantyre targeting middle density area of Chinyonga, Low Density area of Namiwawa, Industrial Area of Makata and Ginnery Corner, high density Area of Ndirande and a rural setting of Lirangwe.
The project is expected to expand to other parts of Blantyre and roll out to other districts such as Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu.

Establish Forensic Laboratory
The purpose of the project is to establish a forensic laboratory in the country to enhance the drive in combating cyber crimes and improve the justice delivery system for cyber related crimes. Currently, architectural designs have been developed for the forensic laboratory.

Develop E-Waste Management Strategy
MACRA is undertaking this reform to ensure that there is compliance to e-Waste Management involving any electrical and electronic equipment that is discarded or is intended to be discarded or is required to be discarded after use, such as Temperature Equipment (fridges), Televisions, Lamps (Fluorescent), Large equipment (Telecommunication equipment) and Small IT (Mobile phones, computers).

Key personnel to champion the reform were trained, a National Strategy on E-Waste Management and regulatory framework for E-Waste Management were developed.

Looking at the initiated reforms and progress made, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is doing a commendable job in undertaking its reforms.

Feedback: opcreforms@gmail.com