Economic growth without development

Economic growth without development
By Editor
Tue 05 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

There is no doubt that the country ended 2009 on a surprisingly high note. We say surprising because whereas most economies, especially commodity-driven countries like Zambia, registered minimal levels of growth, if not nothing at all, our country’s results were, according to data released by the Central Statistical Office, a fantastic phenomenon.

Just last week, the Central Statistical Office told us that the country’s annual inflation rate closed the year in single digit at 9.9 per cent while all indications are that our gross domestic product (GDP) for this year is expected to exceed the projected six per cent. To be precise, the Central Statistics Office is forecasting a growth rate of more than 6.3 per cent.

And we say these statistics are a great phenomenon because we are aware of the fact that the recent global financial and economic malaise almost ripped the domestic economic apart, threatening to grind the little gains we had achieved in the last few years.

Again, the Central Statistics Office is telling us that this growth is being driven by robust results in our tradition mining sector, the construction sector and recent agriculture results which were epitomized by last year’s output of 1.8 million metric tonnes of maize.

However, these positive results call for deep reflection because they do not only indicate our economy having weathered the global storm. These results also show that we are among the fastest growing economies in the world today. But is this scenario a true reflection of the correct status quo in our economy or has our economy managed to successfully swim to safety?

It is a well known fact that every day, we hear debates about our people not feeling the impact of these promising statistics or the seemingly growing economy. And we are being told by some of our elitist friends that Zambia will only be able to make a serious dent on the high poverty levels in the country if our economy grew by at least more than 11 per cent.

Today, former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa is telling us that we have to revolutionise our economic policies to grow our economy. Indeed, the country needs to use 2010 as the starting point to revolutionise its economic growth strategy to ensure that these seemingly positive results are seen and felt by all.

Zambia’s economic paradigm is problematic and at best can be described as discriminatory. To start with, most key sectors of the economy are in the hands of foreigners. If we talk about the agriculture sector, we are not aloof to the fact that agriculture in this country is not treated as an economic generating venture, but merely for consumption.

In the past, we talked about why agriculture continues to make a significant contribution to the economic growth of this country and we will not belabor this point today.

With this background, it is very clear that economic growth is not in the hands of Zambians. And for as long as foreigners continue to get the bulk of our cake, the country will forever continue to post strong growth statistics without development. We recently heard that extreme poverty levels have reduced to 68 per cent. It is therefore a national scandal for a very potentially-rich country like Zambia to have 68 per cent of its population failing to have access to very basic survival dynamics like education, health, water and sanitation.

We know that Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, has already presented this year’s national budget, but certainly the economic revolution has to start this year. And every plan should be made malleable enough to accommodate new dynamics. Dr Musokotwane cannot continue telling us that even this year, only one mining company – Kansanshi Copper Mines – will pay taxes to this country for the copper it is extracting.

These nonsensical economic theories should be halted. The mining sector is growing averaging 13 per cent from just 2.2 per cent a few years ago. But how do you expect the country to feel the impact of this growth when no money is being realised from this sector? There is indeed a lot that has to be done for our people, the average citizens of this country, to feel the benefits of the many investments that have been placed in our country.

And we believe there is still room for adjustments here and there in the national budget so that the growth this government is talking about is felt and seen by the poorest of this country. We wish you a productive and prosperous 2010!