MACRA SAYS NAS TO FACILITATE ECONOMIC GROWTH

Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority Director of Postal and E-Commence Kondwani Kachika has described the National Address System (NAS) as a catalyst for national developments saying it will boost E-trade.

Addressing Dowa District Council officials and other interested groups in Dowa, Kachika said that with the new phenomenon of E-trading the National address system will facilitate economic activities in the district as people can locate areas with the internet.

“The project will stimulate economic growth by facilitating different economic activities in line with the Malawi 2063 vision,” said Kachika.

He further urged Dowa council officials to embrace the project, saying they would do much of the activities such as geo-mapping and street naming.

However, Kachika lamented that since the inception of the project, MACRA has faced challenges like limited financial resources and vandalism of signposts.

He also asked communities to embrace the project by taking care of the signposts that are placed in their localities.

“The major challenges that we have faced thus far is that of finance it is a big project and vandalism, while understanding the need for the infrastructure, we still find that there are a few elements in our society that are vandalizing the infrastructure,” explained kachika.

On his part, the council chair for Dowa district council Gift Songea commended the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority for bringing the project to Dowa saying it will greatly assist in boosting economic activities as Dowa is an agribusiness hub.

The National Address System NAS project started in 2016 with the amendment of the Communications Act and so far MACRA has reached 20 districts in the country.