Some of these ads!

I have just been listening to a radio advert for one of the telecoms operators. In the ad a young man is writing to his uncle in Australia telling him just how cheap it is to make an international call to him.

I was left rather baffled by it all. Is it REALLY necessary for him to tell his uncle about calling rates? Are there no better things to tell his uncle like the current fuel shortage? And anyhow if the rates are so cheap why not just make the darn call and tell him all about the rates?

One thing I know is that if any of my nephews or nieces called me up to tell me how cheap international calls were on Vodacom or whatever other network my response would be “wasowa nkhani zonena, eti?”

The cost of fakes

I have been procrastinating about getting a duplicate key made because I had no desire to get stuck in the traffic going across the Lilongwe bridge. But when puss came to shove I dragged myself for the journey.

My first stop was at a hardware shop next to the police mobile force. I walked in and all the ‘shop attendants’ all seemed busy with nothing. After capturing their attention and showing them the key I wanted duplicated they said they don’t duplicate those kinds of keys. I couldn’t be bothered to ask why seeing the lackluster attention (or inattention) I got. I proceeded down the road to Lambat’s. Oh, what a difference. The owner greeted me from quite far off, took my key and said it was a fake Chinese key and they don’t do duplicates for those. Despite it being written UNION he spotted the fake. He explained that any credible key cutter in town will not or can’t duplicate these fakes.

I started my tiring journey back across the bridge in the heat and dust of the afternoon. I burnt fuel which I hear is running low at most of Lilongwe’s pumps. I wasted my time and effort but at least came out of the whole experience a little smarter: these Chinese fakes cost a lot more that you initially think!

Litter bugs

Street pole advertising seems to have taken root with almost every electricity pole decorated with some form of marketing message or the other. Over the past week I passed two work men and their supervisor replacing MTL boards with new ones just across the road from Maula Parish on my way into town. To my dismay, on my way back I found that the old wrapping had just been discarded by the road side all along where they had been working!

I am not sure if we could call those people marketing practitioners but if they are then marketing comes with responsibilities. Littering our lovely city is a bad practice that we need to ditch. And coming from a contractor of such a big brand leaves a lot to be desired. If they don't consider themselves marketing practitioners then their trade better come up with a code to guide disposal of old marketing material.

Busy not dead!

It has been a while since I blogged. But you can take heart that am not dead ... yet! Just been busy putting a few things together and should be back blogging like a mad man very soon.

Electricity demand to rise 70% by 2015

From a local newspaper last week.

The Ministry of Development Planning and Cooperation has said that electricity demand is expected to rise by 70% from the current 344 megawatts to 571 megawatts by 2015 and 854 megawatts by 2020. Currently the country only produces 282.5 megawatts, 95% of that from hydro-plants on the Shire River and the remaining 5% from Rukuru river.

The Ministry has said that development of Kapichila and procurement of stand-by generators should undertaken in the short term to add 110 extra megawatts to bring supply to 392.5 megawatts at peak times. Minister Ken Lipenga said Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) resources will compliment efforts to increase generation in the medium to long term. (Malawi is to access $300 million grant from MCA to improve the energy sector). Only 7% of the population has access to electricity laving 93% to rely on firewood and charcoal.

In my personal opinion there are two things missing from the report, unless if it was not reported.
1. Use of alternative sources of energy like solar, bio-gas and wind at least for things like office space/ factory lighting, water pumping and water heating. Also the use of natural methods of air cooling (especially in commercial structures) to reduce reliance on air conditioners.
2. Use of the ministry of information and civic education to educate people on using electricity sparingly, converting to energy saver bulbs, etc.

My greatest concern however is the use of stand-by generators. Malawi experiences regular fuel problems (like the current diesel shortage) and we intend to compound it further by buying large generators!

Fare thee well Muluzi

So Bakili Muluzi has finally decided to throw in the towel. This can only be a positive decision and I wish him well in his retirement days. He deserves the rest.

The task is now for UDF to rise from the ashes and become a force to be reckoned with as it was in days gone past. The party will obviously miss it's charismatic leader and his deep pockets but at the same time could capitalise on the infighting in the MCP and the downward spiral in popularity of the DPP. It all depends on Friday Jumbe and his team strategise.

There are issues that could dog Jumbe's job and include uncompleted corruption cases against him. All we can do wait and watch.

Sometimes it pays to complain

I few months ago I had complained about service at an MTL shop in city centre. Last week I forwarded this complaint to a colleague who works at MTL who escalated it to the relevant authorities. Yesterday I happened to find myself in this shop, not out of choice but rather because I could not burn Malawi’s scarcest commodity, fuel, going to another shop. But at the end of it all I was glad.

The customer service staff were a lot more responsive and explained certain processes I have always found unnecessary. He lady in the shop went out of her way (or maybe it was just her job) to make sure I was served quickly because there was an MTL dealer ahead of the queue and they normally take time to transact before the next person is served. In short it was a great customer experience. I guess it is always great when feedback is welcome and acted upon.