The immediate trading centres that surround Balaka are Ntcheu, Phalula, Liwonde and Ulongwe.

Notable fast growing businesses are transportation, operating shops, timber selling, and most technical jobs.

Balaka is a town and district that has people of mixed religious beliefs, mainly Christians and Muslims.

However, formal schools that offer tertiary education are all branches of Andiamo Youth Cooperative Trust.

This college enrols students who wish to become motor vehicle mechanics, architects, carpenters with Joinery skills, electricians, and musicians.

The project is working to enable more than 9,000 rural households to produce more food and earn a sustainable living.

Maphunziro Foundation was registered in 1996 and serves the local population of Balaka with a variety of projects and initiatives to build capacity for community-based orphan care, HIV/AIDS and life skills education, income-generation (economic empowerment), and access to secondary education.

The Maphunziro Foundation office is located in Mlambe Motel in Balaka Township.

[2] Bola Moyo was formed in 2004 to address various challenges faced by the people of Balaka, including HIV/AIDS and other diseases, food insecurity, gender inequality, and poverty.

Bola Moyo has offices in Portland, Oregon (USA) and Balaka Township, Malawi.

Balaka is home to Montfort Media, one of the more prominent printing presses in Malawi.

Since 2008, the media house started publishing MKWASO in Chichewa, Malawi's widely spoken vernacular.

Back in 1992, the press was set ablaze by "ayufi" (MCP thugs) after it had published a pastoral letter written by Malawi bishops against one party rule.

[citation needed] Luntha Television has just been established a year ago and it telecasts religious events around Malawi.