ETHIOPIA MOVES UP, ZAMBIA MOVES BACK: Getting the Economics Right My friend Milimo in Addis Ababa (New Flower) posted the picture of the tram for ET and I got excited. One country that is moving fast in economic development is Ethiopia. And you can SEE it. You dont have to be told by some fancy economist that the figures are stable, inflation, GDP etc, etc; you WILL see development. As a Zambian diplomat in Ethiopia I thought that the late Prime Minister Meles, an ardent practitioner of economics was among the most brilliant of Africas leaders then. Most of all, he was focused on growing his country and was passionate about it. It was a pleasure to hear him speak; very thoughtful. And that is the result; fast-paced growth in all areas. Zambia taught Ethiopians how to grow flowers for export and if you go there , it is a huge industry and yet in this country the flower industry died ten years ago and the successive ministers of agriculture have no idea what to do with it. Like coffee, pineapples, bananas, guavas, tea; they ONLY know maize but have failed to grow it efficiently. I think ministers and government officials must be banned from undertaking trips for workshops, meetings and seminars so they get into the field in Zambia and make differences. Let them work on habours, new affordable housing for the poor, promote tele-education, collection of garbage and devolving power from the central government to the people, provision of school transport for pupils, putting up processing and packaging factories, conserving the forests and reforestation, improving standards in universities and colleges, providing tap water in rural areas and solar power, promoting irrigation. They DO NOT need to fly abroad for this. If they want they can read my book and I can also explain to them HOW all these can be achieved. Some ministers and officials are never in their offices, pretty much change their suitcases at KK International Airport.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:45:54 +0000