Lilongwe, Malawi

Lilongwe is the capital of the Republic of Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa, and the political and administrative center of that nation. Originally founded as a British colonial settlement, Lilongwe is one of Africa’s youngest capitals, having assumed that role in 1975 when it replaced the old capital of Zomba. Sometimes dubbed the “Garden City,” Lilongwe’s modern quarter features broad, tree-lined avenues, carefully tended greenery, and gleaming government and commercial buildings. Like many urban centers in the developing world though, Lilongwe has been overwhelmed by massive numbers of migrants from predominantly rural Malawi, which ranks as one of Africa’s most impoverished nations.

Landscape

Lilongwe is located on Malawi’s Central Region Plateau. The city lies some eighty kilometers (fifty miles) west of the southern tip of Lake Malawi. It is built along the banks of the Lilongwe River, at the crossroads of Malawi’s main transportation routes. Lilongwe is sectioned into about fifty numbered areas that are all divided into two main districts, separated by the Lilongwe Nature Sanctuary.

The Old Town district was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century by British colonial authorities. With its busy marketplaces and abundance of street vendors, the Old Town has a traditional African ambience. In addition, most of the city’s commercial and service sector activities are located here. The New Town district, considered serene and spacious, was constructed primarily during the late 1960s and 1970s. It is largely home to Malawi’s administrative, political, commercial, and financial sectors, which include embassies, banks, and international aid organizations.

Lilongwe, like many African urban centers, is ringed by sprawling informal settlements, called shantytowns. Here, many of the capital’s poorest residents live in overcrowded conditions, often without access to running water, electricity, or sanitation services.

Lilongwe features a tropical climate characterized by a dry season, which lasts from April through November, and a rainy season, which generally runs from December through March. Daytime temperatures average roughly 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) but during the hottest part of the year in late November to early December temperatures are often higher on average.

People

Lilongwe is Malawi’s most populous city. According to the US Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, Lilongwe’s population was more than 1.276 million in 2023. The Chichewa people represent the largest ethnic group. Other ethnic groups include the Lomwe, Yao, Ngoni, Tumbuka, Nyanja, Sena, Tonga, and Ngonde peoples. There are also small communities of Indian, South African, and Western expatriates, most of whom are British. Many of the expatriates work for sub-Saharan African international aid organizations or for international corporations, especially tobacco companies.

English is one of Malawi’s two official languages and is used in government, business, and educational settings. Most of the capital’s residents also speak Chichewa, which is Malawi’s national language.

An estimated 77.3 percent (2018) of Malawi’s population is Christian, with Protestant denominations representing the majority of this group; the dominance of Christianity reflects the long influence of Western missionaries throughout the region. Islam and various indigenous beliefs are also observed.

Economy

Lilongwe’s economy is based heavily on the civil services sector as well as small businesses. The capital’s industrial base is modest in size, as the national economy is largely based on agriculture. According to 2017 statistics, agriculture employs about 64 percent of the national population, accounts for about 80 percent of Malawi’s export revenue, and 28.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

Tobacco, tea, sugar, and coffee are the most lucrative crops, and in recent years, growers have also begun to export peanuts, wood products, and apparel. Farmers raise maize, potatoes, cassava, sorghum, bananas, citrus fruit, and vegetables for domestic consumption.

Lilongwe’s informal economy is also massive in scope. Lacking formal education and professional skills, many of the impoverished rural newcomers who have migrated to Lilongwe in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century have survived by becoming street vendors and manual laborers.

Indigenous participants in Lilongwe’s informal economy have also faced increasingly stiff competition from savvy foreign traders. Refugees from Burundi and Ethiopia as well as Chinese, Tanzanian, Pakistani, Indian, and Nigerian nationals have set up thriving, illegal businesses, prompting local traders to complain that they are being displaced. In 2007 Malawi’s government ordered a crackdown on foreign businesses operating unlawfully in the capital and other urban centers.

Landmarks

Lilongwe New Town landmarks include the State House, which is the seat of Malawi’s parliament and the presidential palace. The Old Town is famous for its market on Malangalanga Road, where purveyors sell various goods such as dried fish, produce and handicrafts. The curio market is another popular attraction, noted for the woodcarvings on sale there.

Lilongwe’s vast tobacco auction floors are open to the public. Rural growers regularly converge there to sell their harvests. Tobacco remains Malawi’s chief cash crop. However, officials have made efforts to diversify Malawi’s heavily tobacco-dependent economy, considering the uncertainty surrounding the future profitability of tobacco amid growing global awareness of its negative health impact.

The capital’s main attraction is the Lilongwe Nature Reserve, which is located in the heart of the city and covers an area of some 150 hectares (370 acres), dividing the Old Town from the modern city center. This nature sanctuary showcases what the site of present-day Lilongwe was like prior to settlement. Visitors to the reserve can follow a number of walking trails carved out through the wilderness. Protected by the government of Malawi, this area of pristine conservation is also home to many orphaned, injured, confiscated, or rescued wild animals, as well as a wide variety of indigenous birds and mammals. Other inhabitants include hyenas, leopards, crocodiles, and baboons.

History

Lilongwe was settled by the British at the beginning of the twentieth century in response to requests from local indigenous peoples for assistance in fending off hostile neighboring groups. The British initially established a small outpost on the western bank of the Lilongwe River. The eastern shore was later settled by Asian traders. Because of its centralized trading location, the small settlement expanded rapidly.

In 1966, two years after Hastings Kamuzu Banda led Malawi to national independence, Lilongwe became a municipality. The new nation that emerged from the territory formerly known as British Nyasaland quickly moved to distance itself from many aspects of its colonial past. The decision to relocate the capital was thus ideological as well as pragmatic; Lilongwe was conveniently situated in the heart of the country and at the center of Malawi’s road and rail links.

During the 1970s and 1980s the government of Malawi undertook efforts to expand Lilongwe’s transportation infrastructure. These efforts included the construction of the capital’s international airport. Much of the capital’s development was funded by the South African government, with which Malawi signed a trade agreement in 1967.

In 2005 the government attempted a mass eviction of squatters illegally occupying city land, but local resistance and international criticism forced the government to back down. Many city officials and international observers fear that, without significant changes in urban planning and social policy, Lilongwe will evolve into a chaotic sprawl of slums, with disastrous public health and environmental consequences.

In 2007, the United States made Malawi eligible to receive financial support within the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) initiative, which is designed to fund sustainable growth in developing countries. In 2008 government officials in Lilongwe signed off on a new plan aimed at promoting democracy, the rule of law, and justice in Malawi. Officials in the capital hoped that such steps would encourage outside investment and economic development in Lilongwe. In 2009, President Bingu wa Mutharika won re-election based on his antipoverty and anticorruption campaigns.

Mutharika lost the trust of his people and the international community within a few years, however. In 2011 the International Monetary Fund, European Union, and other donor nations froze $400 million (USD) in assistance. That same year thousands of Malawians joined in an antigovernment protest to put an end to corruption, rampant poverty, and human rights abuses. The protest march was the first of its kind to occur since 1994, when the nation became a democracy. Mutharika died on April 5, 2012, and was succeeded by his vice president and political opponent, Joyce Banda. Banda was succeeded by Mutharika’s brother, Peter Mutharika, when he defeated her in the May 2014 election. In 2020, Lazarus Chakwera won the presidency by defeating Mutharika.

Lilongwe, being built along the river of the same name, has been increasingly vulnerable to floods as climate change has resulted in more extreme weather. The city experienced significant flooding in both 2017 and 2019, each incident displacing about 1,000 people.

Bibliography

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