Tough questions on citizen empowerment

Dithapelo Keorapetse | Friday December 5, 2014 08:56

 

While the questions were specifically about Chinese involvement in the country’s economy, they were generally about showing the government’s lackadaisical attitude on citizen economic empowerment.

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning was asked to state how much in Pula terms has been paid to Chinese companies in the last five years, how much of that amount has been invested in the domestic economy of Botswana and how much has been repatriated outside the country.

The Minister’s response was that P 3.3 billion has been paid to Chinese companies by the government. He also told the house that the government has no policy nor need to collect data on domestic investments undertaken by specific companies using income generated locally as it abolished foreign exchange controls in 1999.

I am of the view that there should be a policy to collect this data for the purpose of knowing the amount of money, out of what the government has paid, will not circulate in the domestic economy.

The data will also inform the government on how much the economy is losing because of lack of capacity in various areas. For example the government would know how much has gone out of the economy because we don’t have a certain high grade of construction companies. This would then be used to inform public policy in respect of the construction industry capacity building as well as citizen economic empowerment.  For the Minister to say there is no need to collect this data shows lack of foresight. 

The International Financial Institutions of the IMF and the World Bank have repeatedly compelled developing countries to liberalise trade and finance.

In reality, there is no absolute free trade and mobility of finance. Whilst I am of the view that being too protectionist can inhibit the conduct of business, I believe that the state has to intervene in certain circumstances. What the countries of South East Asia have achieved through state intervention and or developmental state model is a substantive negation of the orthodox economic precepts of unmitigated free market economy. There ought to be limitations for the purpose of protecting and growing the economy and putting it in the hands of Batswana through compelling companies paid from the public purse to plough back into the country’s economy.

These companies shouldn’t rank at the same level with companies which directly invest in Botswana and are not paid anything from the public treasury, there is a big difference. South East Asian countries which most of them subsequently became the Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs) put limitations on mobility of capital and goods as long as it was for the good of the economy.

What some of the companies paid from public money do as corporate social responsibility is a real kick in the teeth to Botswana.

They should not be blamed if they donate a football kit to a local club and a two and half house to a poverty stricken family because they are profit driven and operate in an environment where there is no law on corporate social responsibility.

Botswana will always get crumbs from these companies if they are not compelled to invest a portion of their money locally and give back to the community through corporate social responsibility law.

The Minister of Trade and Industry was asked to state the number of Chinese owned companies operating in Botswana since 2008 and the nature of their businesses or sectors they are involved in. It is said that 72 Chinese manufacturing companies and 600 trading companies have operated in Botswana since 2008. What is disappointing about the answer, in so far as citizen economic empowerment is concerned, is that hundreds of Chinese trading companies operate in businesses reserved for Batswana.

Whilst there can be a mitigation on some of the manufacturing businesses and other areas where there’s lack of capacity, it is a serious indictment that there are Chinese people running or operating wood and wood products, metal products baby shops, bookshops, cosmetics shops, general dealers and general clothing shops, supermarkets and sunglass shops inter alia.

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs was asked to state the number of Chinese nationals residing in Botswana and state how many of these are; businesspeople, working and in what areas and how many fall in the category of unskilled, semiskilled or skilled.

The minister put the figure at 1,606 but wasn’t able to say how many are business people or workers and in what fields, he doesn’t have this information. Moreover the Minister doesn’t know how many Chinese residing in Botswana are unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled.

This is disappointing given that these are not illegal immigrants and were asked to state clearly the purpose of their stay in Botswana. The questions asked and answers given clearly show that we have a long way to go as a country on citizen economic empowerment among other things that concern our  economy.

*Dithapelo Keorapetse is an academic, commentator and a Member of Parliament for Selebi-Phikwe West and writes in his personal capacity. keorapetsedlk@gmail.com