3.4 The COVID-19 context in Malawi

3.4 The COVID-19 context in Malawi

Following the advent of COVID-19 into Malawi, the government, through the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF), introduced a series of containment measures to curb the spread of the virus. On 23rd March, 2020, all schools in the country were closed, meaning that almost 6 million school going children had to stay at home22 . Some primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, especially those privately run, introduced online learning to keep their students busy and remain on track with their academic programmes, particularly those whose students sit for international examinations. Around the same period, the majority of offices and businesses closed and their staff mostly worked from home. Online platforms, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype and Google Meet, were utilized to transact office business, including holding meetings, and this significantly increased demand for digital technologies and solutions to meet people’s needs. This mirrors experiences elsewhere in the world where some countries and localities saw an increase in usage of information systems and technologies from 40- 100% when compared with the prelockdown period23 . The Reserve Bank of Malawi also made its contribution by engaging commercial banks to reduce online transaction fees. In April 2020 commercial banks reduced by 40% all fees and charges on mobile payments, internet banking, ATM transactions and other services24. The PTF encouraged people to utilize the online platforms in order to minimize travel to and contact in banking halls amid the pandemic. Businesses too encouraged their customers to utilize this opportunity to minimize use of cash and visits to the bank for deposits. Online platforms were also used by businesses, especially small to medium scale, to market and sell their products. Furthermore, the period saw a huge increase in the use of social media by the general public. This was a way for people to stay in touch with their family and friends. Social media was also used as a tool for tracking COVID-19 trends, latest developments and following newly instituted guidelines and directives by Government. It also became a convenient tool via which people provided psycho-social support to affected individuals, families and friends. Mobile phone and internet service providers introduced services for various categories of customers. For example, TNM, Airtel and other service providers introduced special and subsidized data bundles to support the education sector, free data bundles to support COVID-19 reporting and response, and other data bundles and options for other sections of the public. The period also saw a soaring demand for gadgets supporting this digitalization e.g. tablets, laptops, computers and wifi routers. The country’s rapid increase in digital demand was not universal, however, with large sectors of society excluded, primarily the urban poor and more remote rural areas. On the education front, public primary and secondary schools could not run online classes to the same level as private schools. Access to digital technologies, data bundles and even reliable power was restricted for the poor and rural populations.

22 UNICEF 2020. Coping with school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic 23 De R. et al, 2020; p.1 24 African News, 2020