10 Kwacha

The P#21 series was introduced as Malawi's economy came under increasing pressure from tobacco price volatility and structural adjustment conditions imposed by the IMF — the 10 Kwacha represented a full week's wages for many rural workers at the time of issue. Thomas De La Rue printed the series in London, a relationship Malawi maintained continuously from independence through this period, reflecting both the Reserve Bank's conservative institutional preferences and the absence of domestic printing capacity.

The watermark is the sole mechanical security feature, modest even by mid-1980s standards for a denomination of this significance.