Business Unpacked

Make things happen in 2014

If you are reading this, be very grateful to God the Almighty for allowing you and me to make it into the brand New Year 2014. Thank you God for the gift of life, we do not take this for granted.

Traditionally, the dawn of a New Year across the world is characterised by merry-making and joy. There is a feeling of triumph and excitement such that when the clock hits midnight on December 31, skylines across the world are filled with beautiful fireworks and cheers feel the air.

Every New Year means different things to individuals, companies and countries alike. It is a time to reflect on the previous year and plan or look ahead to the new opportunities over the next 12 months.

Many individuals draw resolutions to guide their growth plans in the New Year. Ideally, this is meant to be a guide as they reflect on short-term and long-term goals, assess progress and see where they can do better. Some do this as a routine and hardly follow their plan, let alone attempt to make it work. Surely, that is a waste of time. It is better to try and fail, but not to fail to try.

My heart bleeds for my beloved country, Malawi. We seem to be a nation without focus, yet we have several development plans, including the “forgotten” Vision 2020 and the home-grown Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS).

Come July 6 this year, our nation will be celebrating the golden jubilee i.e. 50 years of independence from our former colonial masters, Britain. What will we be celebrating? They say life begins at 40, implying that, all things being equal, by that age, one should be able to live independent of their mother and father and, if anything, lend them a helping hand.

Sadly for Malawi, 50 years after independence and counting, the country’s national budget is still financed almost 40 percent by donors otherwise called development partners. We still go about in Western capitals with a begging bowl.

Currently, Malawi is facing a donor aid freeze which has seen its major donors under the Common Approach to Budget Support (Cabs) withholding their support for the second quarter of the 2013/14 fiscal year i.e. October to December. The withheld funds are $150 million (about K60 billion). This year’s national budget is pegged at K639 billion and donors were projected or expected to put in 41 percent of the money.

There are always mixed feelings when politicians are entrusted with the task to manage an economy. Naturally, the governed expect, in good faith, the politicians to practice principles of sound economic management. Unfortunatey, though, in reality, many times politicians, at least on the domestic scene, have failed the governed. Take for example the revelations of the Capital Hill financial scandal popularly known as cashgate and several issues, including the sale and non-sale of the presidential jet.

Sound economic management requires those entrusted with the task to manage national affairs to be of high integrity. They should put national interest ahead of self-enrichment schemes. But what do we see? Search me!

My heart further bleeds when I read and see that other countries that Malawi obtained independence with almost at the same time are far ahead economically. For example, Ghana and neighbouring Zambia are ranked among middle income countries. Mozambique, which faced a 16-year civil war, is doing far much better economically than we are. Rwanda too is now far advanced than us. What have we achieved in 50 years? Peace? Yes, peace without development.

They say it is never too late. Malawi can move forward and develop if we take politics out of the development agenda. We need, as a country, to have a national development plan that will not be linked to any political party. It should be “owned” by Malawians who will take stock of progress at the end of every cycle, say five year.

The current trend where every new president or administration discards plans of their predecessors is a sure catalyst for continued under-development.

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