20 Kwacha

The Reserve Bank of Malawi was established in 1964, the year of independence, but the kwacha itself wasn't introduced until 1971 when Malawi decimalised and abandoned the Malawian pound. This 20 Kwacha was among the higher denominations in circulation during a period when Malawi's economy was under considerable strain — the early 1980s brought severe drought and a sharp deterioration in the terms of trade for tobacco, which accounted for the overwhelming bulk of export earnings.

Thomas De La Rue had printed Malawian notes since the series began, a relationship that held uninterrupted through multiple design revisions. P#17 is the second signature variety of the type, distinguishing it from the otherwise identical P#16.