Malawi’s Minister of Information, Communication and ICT Nicholous Dausi has revealed that the country launched a mandatory SIM registration campaign last month, in a move aimed at preventing the use of mobile phones for criminal purposes. ‘Everybody who would like to have a telephone number must register with service providers, failing which, one will not be allowed to have a local SIM card,’ local newspaper Nyasa Times quotes the minister as saying, although he did not disclose when the deadline for the nationwide registration drive will expire.
TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that the launch of SIM identification campaign follows the introduction in late last year of the Communications Act No. 34 of 2016, which outlines, among other things, the obligations of consumers and service providers concerning the registration of SIM cards.