By Justin Mkweu
Every employer in Malawi is required by law to contribute 1 percent of their basic payroll to the Tevet Fund, which is deducted from employees’ salaries and it is called the Tevet Levy. But where does this levy go when deducted? Our Business Editor Justin Mkweu follows the issue.
Technical Entrepreneurial and Vocational Training Authority (Teveta) collects the Tevet Levy on behalf of the government and utilises it in its operations.
To benefit compliant contributors, the authority introduced the Productivity Enhancement Programme (PEP) which aims at helping businesses using four main components.
The first is called Sector-Based Productivity Enhancement (SBPE), which addresses common productivity gaps within specific sectors while the second one is Enterprise-Based Productivity Enhancement (EBPE), which provides targeted diagnostics, consulting and capacity building, particularly for SMEs.
PEP also comes in the form of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) which strengthens collaboration between industry and training providers to enhance curriculum relevance and technology transfer.
After all that, there is the annual National PEP Outcome Sharing Seminar, a platform for accountability, inspiration and replication of best practices, which was inaugurated virtually this week.
During the inaugural symposium, five entities from both the private and public sector made presentations detailing how their businesses have improved because of PEP.
The entities were Imvegrow, Malawi Institute of Education, Mwenera Transport, RGK General Dealers and Paintek Signs Graphics.
Imvegrow Operations Manager Peter Kondowe said the business was introduced to PEP mid last year and Teveta carried out a productivity enhancement needs analysis (PENA) exercise, which identified a number of gaps and interventions through PEP were initiated.
“TEVETA introduced us to the Kaizen performance enhancement programme, which run for the entire second half of 2025. The programme involved training and formation of working groups from various departments with technical support from Teveta and a regional specialist from Zambia,” Kondowe said.
He added that because of the programme, they have managed to cut down on wastage, downtime, energy consumption, operational costs and profitability of their business units.
Kondowe said the beauty of PEP is that it encourages participation of all employees in solving key operational problems and owning solutions.
“This lifts the burden from top management of solving operational problems. As a living testimony of the beneficiary of PEP, we would like to encourage TEVETA to reach out to as many entities as possible, both corporate and SMEs,” Kondowe added.
Another business that has seen benefits of PEP is Mwenera Transport, whose Managing Director Hope Lilian Kaunda, said following the engagement, the company embraced a Kaizen approach to improve workplace efficiency.
She added that the initial efforts focused on reorganizing the workshop, which had been congested with multiple items stored in shared spaces, leading to delays in locating tools and spare parts.
“Within a few months, significant improvements were achieved, with tools and equipment properly sorted and arranged. The initiative has resulted in a cleaner and more organized workspace, reduced time spent searching for tools, enhanced workplace safety, and improved staff morale,” Kaunda explained.
Teveta Executive Director Elwin Chiwembu Sichiola said they remain fully committed to expanding the reach of PEP.
He added that they will continue engaging more levy compliant organisations and enterprises across the country to ensure that productivity support is accessible, impactful and aligned to industry needs.
“Our goal is clear: to see more Malawian enterprises becoming efficient, competitive and growth-oriented,” Sichiola said.
Levies are supposed to bear fruits and it is clear that if more companies become compliant, more benefits will manifest because of the Tevet Levy.
