WE are a week into 2024. With elections behind us, the tone and pace of the year domestically will be influenced by Finance minister, Nthuli Ncube’s ZWL$58,2 trillion budget and the climatic shocks, mainly the anticipated major drought.
Internationally, the two wars in Europe and the Middle East as well as global economic adjustments to new shocks will continue to impact economies, mainly small ones.
The question in the minds of many is what could be in store for them this new year.
There is so much pessimism, given the domestic and international pressures on economies. It is even worse for small economies such as Zimbabwe due to their persistent struggles over the past decades.
The challenge with the Zimbabwe economy — just like in most poor countries — is that it is an appendage of the global economy, which is more vulnerable to ripple effects in the global economies. These dependent economies, perennially struggle to establish some form of self-sufficiency to cushion them from external shocks.
The reasons for this are two-fold. Firstly, economies inherited from the colonial era were not capable of detaching from their global colonial centres. The colonial agenda was specifically about establishing long and sustainable feeder economies across the world for the benefit of the colonial administrations. This is why when poor economies plunge, rescue operations and packages are deployed from the Brenton Wood institutions to avert economic instability. Most of these are sublet economies.
The second reason is obvious. Independence only granted access to political power — a toy that is used by the holder for a period of four to six years before it is subjected to a political auction otherwise known as elections. It is a fascinating toy that has obsessive powers and has absorbed so many holders’ attention to the extent of neglecting their economies. Some holders of the toy never want to let go, while others kill for it. In Africa, the elderly holders love to play with the toy longer to the disgust of their kids.
For these reasons, most governments tend to be too reactive when dealing with lean economic seasons and shocks. For example, Ncube’s budget is reacting to the need to keep the troubled economy stable and to respond to the anticipated impact of drought. Granted, these are critical priorities; but should not this be the time the country started moving towards being more creative in expanding the economy?
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Ever since the country inherited the economy from the colonial government, the priority has been to improve and increase productivity – a noble idea to grow the economy faster and yet short-sighted in the absence of creativity.
When the madness of the year 2000 going forward happened, the common and not well-thought-out assumption and probably a populist policy chiming with the madness at the time, was to recover the agro-based economic base. It is an assumption that still prevails in political discussions even when the past two decades have proven its futility. Economies are often not amenable to being revived, which is why wise governments and corporates create new ones.
In addition, functioning economies enjoying long-term sustainability are driven by creativity and innovation and are grown via productivity and not the other way around. It was mechanisation, research and innovation which made the pre-independence Zimbabwe economy the second largest on the continent. It was a lack of the same which made large telecommunication corporations such as Nokia to plunge into oblivion even when they were at some point, the unchallenged market leaders.
The goal of creativity is to focus on the quality of outcomes, the development of new ideas and improving efficiency. It may take time to deliver the final product or idea, but rest assured that if properly managed, creativity helps to stay ahead of the curve which helps generate new wealth, economic opportunity and enhance productivity.
In a context whereby dependence on external markets is increasingly being challenged by a myriad of factors, this is the right time to start investing in creativity and innovation, starting with the agriculture sector — that is creating a new system and not reviving the old one. That old one is gone and will never return.
The impact of climate change is here to stay and will cause more havoc and instability; innovative ways are needed to navigate their effects. Doing so requires investment in research and development, creativity and innovation.
New ideas are better tested during the time of turbulence; this is when they are needed. This is one of the lessons drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic — that vaccines could be invented amid a pandemic. But we also learned that in case of emergency, your safety comes first; and so, did Western countries which invented the vaccines. They prioritised themselves before everyone, on both vaccines and other essential supplies.
There lies the power of creativity and innovation.
Tapiwa Gomo is a development consultant based in Pretoria, South Africa. He writes here in his personal capacity.
