Money talks
AS the saying goes: ‘Money talks’; and in a lot of ways. It only recently asked us how long we’ll still call it ‘money’ (lol). The rate of change in the world of high-tech, including money, is at an exponential speed; in other words, rather fast. Most of us already have difficulty remembering how to write a cheque; which only recently departed from the world of money. We are now seeing the use of the debit card rapidly replacing notes and coins. If those who departed their earthly life, as recently as 20 years ago, had been asked if they would like to have the e-wallet, many would have patted their pocket or handbag and said; “Sorry, no room for another wallet.”
Money is generally used as an exchange of value for something of value, and will almost certainly take on a virtual form, our resources perhaps stored in the Cloud. The UK Government has announced it will launch the ‘digital Pound’. What’s that? A bare-knuckle thrashing from the likes of Mohammed Ali? You may soon have a bank account that doesn’t even exist in material terms – no building, no staff; perhaps in the same Cloud. We may even end up ‘living in the clouds’, an expression that ironically, and not many years ago, meant you were dreaming outside your real world. It now has an amazing new dimension.
If everything becomes virtual, we’ll also have to re-define the ‘real world’. But we will always need to be in possession of value, in whatever form, to be able to obtain items of value. But, before we get all excited (or terrified) about that, let’s remember there’s a lot of non-virtual work to do, not the least of which is resolving the problem carrying one of the most chastening statistics in global society today: Nearly 10 per cent of the world’s population – that’s 700 million – have to exist on less than US$2.15 (E33) a day. And the latest publicly available World Bank figures show 30 per cent of emaSwati in that category (60 per cent in national poverty terms). That ain’t fair.
Reflection
And, in these days of galloping inflation, that E33 figure is downright offensive. On reflection, it’s extremely difficult to believe the published figure of five per cent per annum inflation in Eswatini. What’s going up by only five per cent a year? Food in the shops? Fuel at the petrol station? Electricity? None of those. More like an average of 15 per cent and in some cases as much as 40 per cent. The more heavily-populated employee groups will try to use muscle to get pay increases to match. Well, if you are one of those – and it’s not restricted to Eswatini – then admit that you’re only looking after No 1. Because, unless you pop over to persuade Mr Putin to stop that appalling war, then the only way to beat inflation is to keep wage demands at a rate less than that of inflation.
In the meantime, we all got a very pleasant surprise that the SACU receipts will be more than double what they were last year. There were clear and technically plausible explanations for how certain government measures taken will have assisted in achieving an increase. But not a big one like that – from E5 billion to E11 billion in one year. The SACU Common Revenue Pool sharing activity has always been notorious for the reliance on the pool’s forecasts to determine pay-outs to member countries, with claw-backs when those managing the pool computations get it wrong. There must surely have been a massive adjustment on an earlier very pessimistic projection, or a heavily optimistic prediction right now; perhaps both. It can’t possibly be Eswatini taking a hugely increased share in the total pool, because it would have to be at another member country’s expense; not credible. Whatever the arithmetic, we can only properly celebrate a huge SACU pay-out like this when we’re convinced it’s the reliable result of economic growth. But show me a country that has enjoyed substantial economic growth in recent years? Not one of us in SACU, that’s for sure.
Minister
But if anyone deserves a bit of a freebie it’s our minister of Finance, entering the final months of his assignment, having carried out a highly professional and committed approach to his responsibilities in very difficult times. He deserves recognition, as does the minister of Commerce. How on earth he’s managing to attract investors to Eswatini in these uncertain times is anybody’s guess. Two good pairs of ministerial hands there. One recommendation in the media suggested using the additional SACU money to reduce debt. Perhaps best to repay only some of that debt, and use a significant portion of the funds – though wisely and with full accountability – on development of the vital small and medium scale enterprises sector. Our entrepreneurs need training and capacity finance, as well as linkages to big business and external market opportunities. What happened to the Youth Agro-Enterprise Project? Job creation through economic growth – providing more goods and services of value – is the name of the big game. Asambeni.