The Sub-Saharan country of Malawi has identified human capital development as a key enabler to achieving its development agenda, as espoused in the Malawi 2063, the African Union 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals. At the heart of this transformative agenda, Malawi established the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) under an Act of Parliament in 2011, with a mandate to regulate higher education.

Guided by national policy frameworks, the higher education sub-sector in Malawi has made some significant strides towards increasing access to quality, relevant, and inclusive higher education. Notable progress has been made in the areas of: a) Harmonisation of student selection to public universities, b) Inclusive admission processes catering for students with disabilities and special educational needs, c) Increased access to higher education through Open, Distance and E-Learning, d) Alignment to the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in higher education, and e) Collaboration and partnerships with regulatory and professional bodies. This paper, therefore, describes Malawi’s strategic efforts and challenges in facilitating transformation through higher education from the perspective of NCHE as a regulatory body.

The paper also presents challenges and bottlenecks that impede the progress of the transformational agenda, including the delayed approval of the Malawi Qualifications Framework (MAQF) and the Higher Education Bill, gender disparities in higher learning institutions, and absence of data and fragmented services for higher education.