Borrow what you can repay, advises Kikwete

FORMER Tanzanian President Jakaya Kitwete has cautioned African countries that did not have capacity to pay back not to contract loans. In a key note presentation to the inaugural Zambian National Economic Summit hosted by the Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) in Livingstone on Friday, Dr Kikwete also advised African countries to be realistic in the manner they projected their economic growth. Dr Kitwete said any country that borrows money should have the capacity to pay back. “Countries should not get loans without making sure they have capacity to pay back. If there is a country that borrows and fail to pay back, then that is a crazy administration,” he said. He said that capacity to borrow and pay back must be based on that country’s Growth Domestic Plan (GDP). He also said there was need for African countries to create a conducive environment for the private sector to thrice and partner with governments in order to foster economic growth. “As African countries, we need to have a paradigm shift in projecting our economies’ growth and in doing so, governments must engage and partner with the private sector,” he said. “For the government of Zambia, you need to create a conducive environment for the private sector to exploit the market outside Zambia. We need to bring in the interest of the private sector,” said the former head of state. He said that from what he has learnt about Zambia, the private sector was willing to be part of the country’s economic growth. And Dr Kitwete observed that most African economies ignored small holder farmers when seventy to eighty (70- 80%) of people on the continent were small holder farmers. “In Africa, 70-80% of the people are small holder farmers and we cannot have an economy that does not support inclusiveness of such people, you cannot run a government like that because they are the people that voted for us,” said Dr Kikwete. He said there must be inclusiveness for any national economic diplomacy to succeed.