Eight key lessons from US, Singapore’s development

EVERY economic renaissance is associated with some names, for instance Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton in America and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore. Nations require a national development agenda, national attitude and a unique philosophy of life, underpinned by a national identity.

If Zimbabwe embarks on this paradigm in this “post-Mugabe” era, President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be remembered for unparalleled development revival and walk in the same hallowed halls of fame that leaders who have championed transition of nations elsewhere walk.

A national development statement, just like the national anthem, penned with words which will continue to resonate with our dreams for generations to come, will be a symphony of shared aspirations as well as our desire to position our country for economic and social dignity.

America was once a British colony that has gone forward to imperially dominate British businesses. Singapore was also a colony, today their products are competing better on the international market.

Zimbabwe’s colonial past is no excuse for failing to develop. A properly crafted and well communicated national development statement will demand greater living standards.

The Zimbabwe development thesis must draw the following lessons from America and Singapore. Zimbabwe has first-class education and adult literacy.

Our greatest present and future resource is the human brain and the human spirit.

Investment in this sophisticated resource is a must. The Education Ministry has more than a lot to do in this regard by way of developing relevant first-class content. Much of what is taught in our schools is copied content. Some of it is not relevant for emerging markets like Zimbabwe.

Crafted within the content should be life skills that promote a higher life expectancy, lowering per capita health costs.

We must move to a point in Zimbabwe where education, all the way to Advanced Level, is a free and branded as basic human right. Grand inventions may be within those that cannot afford the cost of basic education. In the long run, free education is of more benefit to the economy than just the individual receiving it.

Regardless of how good our economic policies are, we cannot do much as a country with an illiterate or uncreative constituency. There is need to raise the creative faculties of our people through relevant first-class education. While natural resources are important, the biggest global fiscal contributors are IT and technology companies are making billions of money. We must invest in training talented people for such sectors.

Investment, both foreign and local, is critical. We must open our country to capital, technology and intellectual property from wherever to improve the quality of our lives. Corporate taxes must go down and remittances of profits and dividends must be easy for all exporting companies.

We must be willing to make the right choice between allowing exporting corporations to take some of their profits out or keeping the quality of our people’s lives static.

We are competing with other countries for quality investment capital, which will of course only go to countries with investment hospitality and financial ethics. This is not going to be achieved through some small tax reductions and incentives. This is delivering policies that translate to big profits for investors.

Arresting corruption will be key to national revival. President Mnangagwa’s Government will have to be serious and honest about its will and action to stop corruption. People who abuse office must be punished. We hear about theft from corporations, State or private firms. Why should an official loot from an entity they are tasked and well paid to protect and grow? Corruption should be costly for the looters until there is full appreciation that crime and corruption do not pay.

The levels of corruption in the private and public sectors is alarming.

From theft of resources, conflict of interest all the way to sexual harassment at work. There is need to investigate, identify and genuinely prosecute white or blue collar corporate criminals.

Research is the key driver to development. It is the only reason why the quality of life improves. It is responsible for new information, new technology and new ways of doing things, resulting in betterment of life.

It is the frontier of human progress. There is need for investment in this vital cog of economic development.

Government must lead by example in this area. Unless there is continuous research, there cannot be continuous development.

President Mnangagwa’s administration will need to establish a ministry that will oversee research and development in all the vital sectors of our economy.

In addressing challenges that the economy faces and prepare for a take-off, access to capital is imperative.

It is not the best alternative that our talented poor are required to produce collateral security to access capital for their new creative ideas.

If banks cannot fund our people’s ideas, Government must come to the rescue. Our inventions and innovations cannot be at the mercy of the banking system, which still classifies research as risk. We need risk capital, research capital and trials funds before we can see progress in all the sectors of our economy.

One cannot overemphasise the centrality of peace and political stability in a national development trajectory.

Peace and stability are important for us as a nation as well as for the investor and his capital. Our law and order enforcement system must be clean and just. Violent crimes, tribal hatred and civil wars must be decisively dealt with. Our Judicial system must be free from corruption.

It must be a trusted pillar of Government, which is not only independent, but composed of sound men and women.

In wealth creation, timing is important. In the exploration and exploitation of natural resources especially minerals, delays can result in loss.

The reason being a valuable mineral today may not be that valuable tomorrow.

Zambian copper is the best example why timeous exploration and exploitation is key to the wealth of nations.

As better alternatives to copper were found, the price of copper crashed.

Zambians had limited time to make the best of their copper. With intense advancement of technology, oil is realising her its competitors. As environmental issues of

global warming gather momentum, oil is slowly losing both the value for use and value of exchange.

Our chrome and platinum must be excavated and sold today before better alternatives come on the market. It is what we do with income from our sales that will determine whether our country is creating wealth or just selling and spending.

There is need for us to step up into sophisticated investments around the global capital and money markets.

Lastly, the new administration of President Mnangagwa must be an investing, not just a spending Government.

Most of our monetary policies have to do with Government domestic borrowing as opposed to being profit-driven participants on money and capital markets.

The best of what we have seen with Government investments was the ego of owning and controlling loss-making parastatals.

Government should only lose money in research projects, not in business ventures.

Our parastatals need selling off to private investors. We will see both an improvement in our fiscus as we realise more corporate tax.

An investing and efficient government is a must in the Zimbabwe development story.

◆ Forbes Madziya is a Zimbabwean British Consulting Development Economist