The PPDA Director General Dr. Edington Chilapondwa has asked Malawian businesses to stand up to the challenge to work for their country ethically, diligently and professionally.

Chilapondwa said this in Mzuzu on Thursday October 23, 2025, when he presided over a handholding session that the authority organized for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for the Malawi National Electronic System (MANePS).

He bemoaned that many are the times that local suppliers deliver sub-standard goods, works and services whenever they get business with Procuring and Disposing Entities (PDEs).

The development he said leads to wastage of Public Resources but also erodes public trust. 

“There are outcries about businesses going to the same suppliers now and again, foreigners, but this is because Malawians have not performed well. Some of them will not even be available to pick a phone. I want to call on Malawians to live up to the challenge to work for their country,” he said.

Citing examples of some cases where contracts given to locals have been withdrawn and given to foreign contractors due to underperformance, Chilapondwa said to remedy the situation the Authority is engaging MSMEs to take business seriously.

He thus called for consistency and attention to detail, saying shoddy work gives government a bad name.

“If you are given an order to supply medicine in a hospital and you have not supplied it, people will say government has failed, as such PDEs strive to clear their name and image by engaging those that deliver. I am here to tell you however that we are here to groom you to do business with government,” Dr. Chilapondwa explained.

He then reiterated that the PPDA has simplified the registration system through MANePS and that it has set up a support system that those who are struggling with the support can call for free to get instant help.

Chilapondwa also stressed that there is need to change attitudes towards technological innovations, saying Electronic Procurement stands to rid the process of human interference and interventions.

The PPDA is conducting handholding sessions in all regions to equip suppliers with practical skills to confidently navigate MANePS and ensure no business is left behind in Malawi’s digital procurement revolution.