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Tag: Malawi

  • Deloitte Fined for Audit of Malawi Leaf Company

    Deloitte Fined for Audit of Malawi Leaf Company

    The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi (ICAM) has fined Deloitte Malawi after finding the auditing firm guilty in cases involving its audits of Malawi Leaf Company.

    ICAM conducted investigations through the Ethics and Investigations Committee and convened disciplinary hearings through the Disciplinary Committee on cases of its members, according to Malawi24.

    In one case, ICAM says Deloitte did not give due diligence to the procedures in auditing Malawi Leaf Company (MLC) , a subsidiary of Auction Holdings Limited. Deloitte assured that AHL Group had complied with the applicable International Financial Reporting Standards.

    The company was found guilty for this and the ICAM council has imposed on Deloitte a maximum penalty of a severe reprimand and a fine of 1.5 million Kwacha.

    Between 2014 and 2016, ICAM says Deloitte did not give due diligence to the procedures in auditing and assured financial statements for the years in question that had errors and misstatements because they included fictitious sales made to Eastern Tobacco Company for $1.2 million.

    The company was found guilty for this and the council has imposed on Deloitte a maximum penalty of severe reprimand and a fine of 1.5 million Kwacha.

    However, Deloitte was found not guilty on a third charge related to overvaluing stocks in financial statements for 2014, 2015 and 2016.

  • Mixed Sentiments as Markets Open in Africa

    Mixed Sentiments as Markets Open in Africa

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Farmers earned more than $243,500 from the sale of 94,453 kg of flue-cured tobacco on the first day of Zimbabwe’s 2022 marketing season, reports The Herald. This reflects a 40.54 percent increase over previous year when growers earned $173,256 from 92,106 kg on the first day of sales.

    On the first day of the 2022 marketing season the average price was $2.58 per kg, compared with $1.88 on the first day of 2021, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).

    TIMB Chief Execute Meanwell Gudu said prices are expected to be firm this year due to reduced volumes.

    “Brazil is likely to be 80 million kg short of their usual production level because of drought. This creates less competition for us. India has fixed its 2021-2022 production of flue-cured Virginia up to 270 million kg, against 236 million kg in the previous year,” he said.

    “Due to anticipated reduced volumes in Zimbabwe this season, there will be more pressure on the demand side to take the crop, which should naturally increase prices upwards. This is likely to be experienced in the medium to filler grades.”

    Farmers in Malawi, meanwhile, were dissapointed with their earnings, with some asking President Lazarus Chakwera to intervene, according to The Nyasa Times.

    On April 1, the highest price offered on the auction floor was $1.75 per kg and the highest offer on the contract market was $2.30.

    Chakwera assured the farmers that the government would intervene. However, he also advised them to grade their tobacco properly to satisfy buyers’ requirement.

    According to the Tobacco Control Commission there were more than 1,000 bales on the Lilongwe Auction Floors on the first day of the 2022 tobacco marketing season.

  • Tobacco Commission Malawi Returns to Profit

    Tobacco Commission Malawi Returns to Profit

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    The Tobacco Commission of Malawi posted a profit of MKW325 million ($404,374) in 2021, allowing the parastatal to recover from previous financial losses, reports The Nyasa Times.

    In 2019–2020, the Tobacco Commission posted revenue of MKW3.6 billion but recorded a loss of MKW81 million.

    Tobacco Commission spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe attributed the improvement to reforms implemented last year. “The improved performance has come about because of sound financial management measures that the institution put in place to avoid the loss that was recorded in 2020,” he told The Nyasa Times.

    Between March 2021 and February 2022, the Tobacco Commission said it strengthened its regulatory framework, enhanced tobacco production and marketing integrity, improved stakeholder understanding of the commission’s mandate and roles, improved financial sustainability and bolstered “institutional capacity.”

    The Tobacco Commission generates its revenues from statutory levies.