Nicole Meki to Lead New CICM Malawi Board as Nation Sets Sights on World-Class Service

Malawi's customer experience movement has a new leadership team. The Chartered Institute of Customer Management (CICM) today announced its Malawi Board for 2026-2028 with Nicole Meki, Customer Experience Director at Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) as Chairperson, and Medson Chitsulo, General Manager of Medhealth as Vice Chairperson.

The Board takes office with a clear mandate and, for the first time, the data to track it. CICM's inaugural Malawi National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) set the national baseline at 58% and a target of 72% by 2029. Closing that 14-point gap is the Board's defining mission.

Joining Meki and Chitsulo are:

• Catherine Kamilia - Group Customer Experience Manager, NICO Holdings
• Maya Khonje-Stewart - Director, Yellow Digital Retailers
• Ramy Waheed - Managing Director, Amaryllis Hospitality Group
• Timothy Mupotsa - Regional Business Development Manager, CICM

A candid starting point

The NCSI heard from 4,200 citizens across all three regions, 14 districts and 14 sectors between October 2025 and January 2026. Its verdict is honest. Malawi sits five points below the African average of 63%, and consumer confidence stands at 48 against the continental average of 56%.

The deepest frustrations lie in services citizens cannot simply walk away from. Local Councils scored 38% and Public Service Agencies 41%.

But the index also carries a powerful message: Malawians already know how to deliver great service. Hotels and hospitality lead at 75%, banking follows at 68%, and mobile financial services at 66%. Their winning habits are trained staff, simple digital channels and a discipline of acting on feedback.

"Improving Malawi's NCSI from 58% to 72% by 2029 is not a customer service project. It is a development strategy," the report's foreword states.

A Board built for the task

The line-up is strategic. Under Meki, the Board brings telecoms insight at a time when Malawi's digital adoption score sits at just 4.8 out of 10, leaving vast room to make services easier to reach. Chitsulo adds a healthcare lens, where service is measured in dignity as much as satisfaction.

Kamilia brings the trust-driven world of financial services. Khonje-Stewart offers a digital retail perspective. Waheed represents hospitality, the country's highest-scoring sector. Mupotsa connects the Board to CICM's continental network of research and certification.

Together they span the country's pace-setters and the sectors with the most ground to gain. The logic is simple: service improves fastest when leaders borrow what works across industries.

From an awards night to a movement

CICM's Malawi journey began in 2017 with the Malawi Service Excellence Awards, which put a public spotlight on organisations putting customers first. That recognition has grown into national measurement and now a dedicated Board.

Malawi also joins a proven continental movement. Headquartered in Sandton, South Africa, CICM has championed customer experience across Africa for more than 15 years. It is the continent's largest professional body of CX practitioners, with more than 5,000 certified, and recently hosted the 9th edition of the Africa CX Conference and Awards. Its NCSI reports have been published in 13 countries.

The results elsewhere are encouraging. Zimbabwe began its NCSI journey nine years ago from a similar position and now scores 63%.

The road to 72%

The Board's agenda centres on four priorities: building Malawi's CX profession, championing annual measurement, celebrating excellence, and partnering with government, regulators and business to place the customer at the heart of national development.

People come first. Fewer than 5% of Malawi's CX practitioners hold formal certification, and the NCSI calls for 500 certified professionals, with frontline public servants a priority. Each becomes a multiplier who trains teams and shapes culture.

For Meki and her Board, success will be counted in everyday moments: a query solved on the first call, a patient greeted with respect, a licence issued without a second trip. Each moment moves Malawi closer to 72%. Together, they could make the country known across Africa not for how far it had to climb, but for how quickly it rose.