FREEDOM FOR ALL

ZAMBIA, like other African countries, has been implementing various social and economic interventions in the quest to attain absolute freedom.

Freedom for all; absolute freedom.

Efforts towards economic redemption should start bearing fruit.

Indeed, the focus for Africa is to attain economic freedom as without it, political freedom is rendered impotent.

Political freedom is indeed impotent without the concomitant economic freedom which is the engine and fulcrum for development in any given circumstance.

Thus as Zambia and Africa at large commemorate the much revered `Africa Freedom Day, ` much emphasis must be placed on economic emancipation.

The imbalance in most African countries is a sad state of affairs as critical sectors of the economy are in the hands of foreign investors, most of them from the Western world.

This follows, therefore, that Africa is not completely free.

In the early 90s, an irresistible wind of change emerged with Zambia leading the pack.

This was the time when capitalism was sweeping across the globe and overshadowed communism which eventually drifted into comatose.

African countries embraced private investment, apparently dominated by Western capitalists.

This in itself was not a reversal of economic gains nor was it a negative tide, but it was an opportunity for African countries to have developed enough muscle and business acumen to run huge investment.

The privatisation process itself should have generated sufficient interest among Africans to develop a cadre of committed, patriotic and professional business gurus.

Eventually, they should have started to run critical sectors of the economy such as manufacturing and mining on a large scale.

Africa is endowed with vast and rich natural resources that are now being exploited by Western economic heavyweights.

Foreign investors dangle the carrot for African countries to open up their vast and virgin resources.

It is time African countries, Zambia included, started to exploit the natural resources and export them as finished products. Value addition is important.

They should be able to control and own the production process.

Factors of production, including capital must be owned and fully utilised by indigenous people.

For Zambia, it would be prudent and ideal to have a fully developed and buoyant tourism sector dominated by indigenous Zambians with requisite skills and proficiency. It is not too late to start changing the tide. However, there will be an urgent need to realign mind-set among local players of industry who must emphasise customer satisfaction along with the prudent reality of maximising profit whether on small or large scale.

Business growth among indigenous people has been dwarfed in many instances by self-interest which overrides the need to offer quality goods and services.

Particularly, this has manifested in the construction sector where local contractors have been awarded tenders and end up delivering sub-standard or outright poor quality output.

In many cases, they even abandon work mid-way through.

Another aspect which has not been sitting well is the sad fact that most, if not all, Non-Performing Loans in the banking sector are contracted by local entrepreneurs.

This shows that there is a tendency to neglect meeting financial obligations in business undertakings.

Therefore, the growth of business enterprises which are locally-owned is below average, yet complaints are loudest from indigenous players who cry for big contracts.

Local investors should take advantage of Government incentives and upscale investment in priority sectors of the economy; they should lead the pack.

Government on the other hand must streamline business processes such as registration and regulations. All bottleneck must be removed.

Africa must wake up from slumber and attain absolute freedom and not only political freedom which is laced with huge encumbrances.