Malawi Car sellers had it tough in 2015

As 2015 draws to an end, some business owners in Malawi  have described the year as tough for business.

Japanese second hand car dealers say their businesses did not pick up this year since they did not make a lot of sales. In an interview with Malawi24, Japanese second hand car sellers in the town of Limbe said devaluation of Kwacha and huge custom duty on second hand cars were major factors that led to failure of their businesses in 2015.

According to Emmanuel Sitima, chairperson for Big Ten Car Sellers group, business was tough over the year following the intensive devaluation of Kwacha, a development which made them not to make profits.

“The devaluation was frequent and if we compare with 2013 there is a little bit change because this year the devaluation has been too much and this has affected our business greatly. “It is worrisome that government put huge duty on second cars importation, if you buy a car over eight years you pay too much duty,” Sitima said.

However, Sitima promised to continue serving customers accordingly.

“We will continue to serve our customers but they must also understand us because it is not a problem on our side that makes prices of cars to increase.”

“If government can consider us by putting fair duty maybe at least we can save a lot in our business,” he said.

Currently, government is charging custom duty on second hand cars depending on the model and the year a car was manufactured. Old models are charged a higher custom duty than new models.