Business
Malawi May Devalue Currency Again
Malawi should devalue the official exchange rate further to between 230 and 250 against the dollar to address a foreign exchange shortage and stem a thriving black market, the International Monetary Fund said.
Malawi devalued the kwacha by 10 per cent in August 2011, but at 166 kwacha to the dollar, the official rate is not as attractive as the black market rate of between 240 and 250 kwacha.
Reserve Bank Governor Perks Ligoya in November said Malawi might be forced to devalue its currency further and said some adjustment to the exchange rate would be good.
The IMF said the overvalued exchange rate has led to foreign exchange market rationing and multiple exchange rates which are key deterrents to private sector activity and diversification.
“The objective of the devaluation is to remove some of the demand for foreign exchange by putting the price for foreign exchange to a more market determined level,” the IMF said in a memo, after its visit to Malawi in December.
“In addition, the supply of foreign exchange will be encouraged to move back to the formal market from the informal market as the price differential between the two will be closed up.
“The informal market will be significantly reduced.”
The Fund also recommended that the central bank remove all restrictions that it announced early last year and foreign exchange bureaus be allowed to set prices.
“The objective of this is to unify the forex bureau and informal market at a market determined rate and provide a market based signal of the exchange rate – albeit from a relatively small part of the entire market,” the IMF said.
Malawi’s foreign exchange inflows are seasonal. During the harvest period (April-September) there is usually enough supply of foreign exchange from mainly tobacco exports.
The lean period is between September-March when the central bank becomes the sole supplier of dollars which come from the country’s development partners.
The dollar crunch has worsened because of low tobacco earnings and after key donors, including Britain, withheld budget support.
The IMF’s visit in December was at government’s request for technical assistance in attempts to bring back suspended aid.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
