This is a crucial area in the development of landlocked Malawi. In order for goods to be moved to and from Malawi, there is need to have a strong transport infrastructure and the policy of the current government is to provide this service as much as possible. The responsibility of the government in this sector has been to build and ensure an efficient utilisation of a network of infrastructure and service appropriate to Malawi's current development requirements. The closure of the country's rail links to the Indian Ocean ports of Beira and Nacala during the Mozambican war in the early 80s to mid 90s necessitated the shifting to alternative but longer transport routes through South Africa and Tanzania. The completion of the Northern Corridor route has meant that Malawi now has an alternative route to the sea, using the Tanzanian Port of Dar-es-Salaam. This has made the transportation of her imports less costly than the South African route through to Durban. A natural railway system links the southern region to the centre up to the Zambian border to the west of the country by a single line running from Blantyre to Salima on the lakeshore across to the capital Lilongwe, ending at Mchinji on the Zambia border.

Since independence, priority has been given to the nationwide road networks. The two main networks, both of them tarmac, run parallel to the north-south direction, one cutting across the centre of Malawi, and the other taking in the lakeshore view from Mangochi in the south-end of Lake Malawi to Karonga at the northern tip. Another trunk road runs from Salima on the lakeshore to Mchinji on the western border with Zambia. The main trunk roads are connected to a network of secondary and feeder roads, many of which are passable except at the peak of the rainy season.

Several roads are expected to be constructed in the country to ease the current transport problem. Under construction is the Limbe-Muloza main road which will pass through some of the country's biggest tea producing areas. Another road earmarked for construction is the Karonga to Chitipa highway which, when completed, will connect Malawi's northernmost districts to the rest of the country, making possible easy movement of people, goods, agricultural products and many other items crucial to development.

In recent years, the once erratic telephone and postal system has been upgraded to international standards. Manual telephones and telephone exchanges have almost all but been phased out and automatic digital ones put in place to enable Malawians to communicate easily with relatives, friends and business partners, both inside and outside the country. In addition, a 'Standard A' earth satellite station was commissioned in the early 80s at Kanjedza in Blantyre to facilitate international traffic. As a result, the number of subscribers to telephone connections has risen so sharply of late that the Posts and Telecommunications authorities are finding it difficult to cope with the demand. Nevertheless, fascimille transmissions, Internet and electronic mail and data can now be transmitted from Malawi to practically any place in the world. Cellular telephones based on the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard have been available since late 1995.

Air transport is one of the healthiest transport sectors in Malawi. It has registered growth rates even when other sectors have struggled. Air Malawi has one of the most modern fleets in Africa and offers services to regional and domestic destinations including Mzuzu, Nairobi, Harare, Lusaka, Blantyre, Johannesburg, Maputo and Dubai from the international airport in Lilongwe which is considered one of the most efficient in Africa and it is serviced daily by several major European and African carriers including British Airways, South African Airways, Air Tanzania, Air Zimbabwe, Kenya Airways, KLM Dutch Airlines ad Ethiopian Airlines. The flow of passengers through Lilongwe has increased tenfold over the last decade. The airports at Lilongwe and Blantyre have substantial cargo capacity as well as bonded and registered warehouse facilities.

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