Currently, there are 52 State Owned Enterprises in Malawi and about 22 (42 %) of these operate commercially and finance their operations like any other business entity. The rest, about 30 (58 %), depend on government subvention.

Performance analysis shows that most commercial parastatals are unable to make adequate profit, pay dividends to government and fail to meet their statutory obligations e.g. pay corporate taxes. The level of losses varies from company to company. Some companies make big losses to an extent of being unable to service their debts let alone payment of dividends to government. Many subvented parastatals always look for increased level of funding from government.  However, there are some indications of improvement in some parastatals in the way resources are being used, programme activities being implemented and performance being monitored. The improvements are as a result of good management and financial systems put in place.

Many teething problems exist in parastatals that make government support financially inevitable.  To address some of long outstanding problems government is implementing a number of rationalization policy reforms in this sector. Privatization, dissolution and restructuring programmes are some of the rationalization strategies government is implementing to address the outstanding problems.  The rationalization reform process is more intense now as more and more parastatals find it hard to operate in a fast changing environment of globalization and economic liberalization and technological advancement.

The Ministry is unable to undertake its lawful roles and functions of performance monitoring and providing policy guidance to parastatals on issues of management, financial, corporate governance and other administrative issues because of institutional and budgetary limitations. Lack of adequate staff, qualitatively and quantitatively, and inadequacy of budgetary allocation are the major factors. The annual budgetary allocation is very small and erratic to support all the critical activities of this ministry.  The Ministry has had to cope with limited staff establishment and other staff developments such as long illnesses and in-service deaths, long recruitment processes, and attrition. As a result of these problems major activities in the Ministry suffered.

• Intensify implementation of January 2000 Chairmen and management symposium resolutions
• Enhance management and financial discipline through orientation and training of Boards and management teams, Intensification of audit systems in all parastatals and development of sound management systems
• Conduct technical reviews in the parastatal sector to assess their financial viability and define areas needing improvement or rationalization.
• Facilitate and participate in the activities of rationalization of parastatal organization.
• Facilitate and manage the process of restructuring parastatals.
• Conduct monitoring and evaluation visits to parastatals
• Provide guidance to parastatals on issues of general administration, corporate governance, management and finance.
• Continue processing and assisting on the appointments of suitable persons to the boards of directors.
• Carry out a study of the parastatal sector with a view to have a strategic plan for the sector.