Malawi's economy which is based mainly on agriculture has changed drastically in the past 5 years. It has grown by more than 7% which has given it the highest growth since the 60s. Its growth has been thrice the normal population growth in Malawi per annum. This has all happened under the current President, Mr Bingu wa Mutharika who chose to use different economic growth strategies in taking Malawi out of poverty into a self-sufficient nation.

Focusing on empowering small holder farming, and creating social and political stability, Malawi has since become the second safest African country to invest in after Botswana even though there had been resistance from the international world to wa Mutharika's way of reforming the country.

Before wa Mutharika, the economy had fallen to minus 5% under Muluzi and also about a 17% decline under Banda and many other presidents before him.

"Knowing and understanding who we are, what we want and how to get it is how we managed to turn Malawi around," explained wa Mutharika at a press conference after the night of the Drivers of Change Awards hosted by Southern Africa Trust and Mail & Guardian on the 29th of October, where he won the Driver of Change Award in the Government sector, the highest of its form.
Using different strategies than what was and is considered the norm by other African leaders and donor organizations, wa Mutharika and his country have focused on four priorities in creating a safe Malawian environment. The four are: protecting the Malawian citizen, their place of residence, their business and foreign and local investors' interests.

The realistic evaluation of the resources available to the nation is what Malawi based its economic growth strategy on. The strategies focus on reducing government spend but rather the maximization of already available resources within guidelines and policies that attract the private sector. The support of the Malawian government by donor organizations through policy reforms and providing resources during the transitional period has helped in creating a conducive environment for economic growth.

Through improved agricultural activities and proper infrastructure even in the remote rural areas has reduced rural to city migration and has saved the urban areas from crumbling under too much people and less resources - one of the many contributors to increased crime and violence in many Sub Saharan countries.

Wa Mutharika has worked hard at implementing sound macro economical and agricultural policies for the economy to grow.

The question to ask though is, how sustainable and equitable is an economy that grows so fast?