Botswana needs Japan for rapid economic development (part 2)

Richard Moleofe | Thursday April 2, 2015 13:03

In last week’s edition of this paper, my colleague Bame Piet threw in a very interesting piece about our relationship with Japan. What was most interesting about his work was that he had had a chance to intercourse with the ambassador of Japan on matters of trade between our two countries. His piece added a lot of value, in my opinion, about matters of trade that I discussed and continue to discuss this week.

I must mention that the purpose of my opinion in the last three weeks is not to antagonised China and Japan; but the objective here is to bring forth a strong argument on why we should pursue Japan as a development partner as opposed to China. It is simple, the Chinese have spread their wings far too wide and have stronger business relationships with other countries and we are very unlikely to make any difference if we try to squeeze ourselves into any existing cracks. Our relationship with the two countries can still continue side by side. But the bottom line is; you may have as many friends as you wish but you cannot have two best friends.

Bame Piet argues that we have not yet seen the results of the concerted efforts made by former President Mogae to lure Japanese tourists here. With its high GDP, Japan is one of the world’s most expensive places to live in or visit as an outsider. For the citizens of that country, this is just normal life because their wages are commensurate with their cost of living. Bringing Japanese tourists here will be a high kill for the industry in Botswana. Their spending per capita is far much greater than many countries, including that of the United States. Botswana’s idea of tourism has always been maintaining it above reach for low cost tourists. It is not a place for backpackers and therefore ideal for Japanese visitors. The main idea of keeping out low cost tourists is meant to maintain the protection of the environment in our national parks. The arrival of tourists with limited spending power in high volumes has its own consequences on the environment. Getting back to core business and commerce with Japan, we have seen Japan’s consistency in maintaining their resolution to see us own a bridge that links us to the rest of Africa. The Kazungula Bridge is certainly going to be a game-changer in trade. The current soft loan that Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation has given Botswana has actually come around for the second time. This loan was pledged in the early 1990’s and was later withdrawn as Botswana and her neighbours were vacillating on taking a final decision on the grand project.

In 2011 when I was visiting Japan as the guest of Botswana’s ambassador to Japan, the Late Pulaentle Kenosi, I learnt a great deal about our diplomatic relationship with Japan. Certainly Japan is very interested in Botswana, as much as Botswana isin Japan. From a diplomatic viewpoint, the biggest problem seems to lay here; as the two countries we just don’t seem to have proper implementation mechanisms in place.

There is a proposed sulphuric acid plant planed for Selebi Phikwe as a measure of promoting business in that small mining town. The Japanese have suggested bringing in state of the art technology that could harness the current levels of sulpha that evaporates into the atmosphere, while the rest is poured into Motloutse River and finally resting in the Indian ocean with devastating consequences. The approach of the Japanese in any investment is to safeguard the environment first and foremost.

A Japanese energy company has also suggested the building of a coal fired power station which will bring in almost zero percent carbon emissions. As a country, we need to have jumped at this opportunity because this would be a final answer to our dilemma. The current dilemma this country is having is that we sit on one of the world’s largest coal deposits, while more and more countries are moving away from the use of fossil fuels. It would be a great strategic decision to jump at such an opportunity and this would benefit many generations to follow.

It seems we are a nation that has for generations suffered from the disease of indecisiveness. Remember the disinvestment movement of the 1980’s when large business corporations were leaving South Africa; the government was only able to arrive at making a policy to attract such investment. Once again we got stuck at the implementation level because we had no mechanisms in place to drive the idea. South Africa is open to business again and they have siphoned out all the business they could from us. From the way we are moving, we don’t seem to have learnt a lesson and our government still displays the same old laissez-faire attitude in this competitive world of business aggression.

Japan’s participation in the global stage on poverty eradication is quite enviable. Most of their projects are aimed at empowering the grassroots people and are determined to change the world for the better. Here is a very interesting statement made by Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe (24/09/2014) at an even on Clinton Global Initiative below: “Many women are denied human rights just because they were born women. Many never have the opportunity to receive an education or get a job. We have to change the way society works.” Through JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), they have grassroots projects that are aimed at improving the lives of women around the world. In empowering women, Japan directly empowers children, many of whom are raised by single mothers.The fact that Japan cares about grassroots people is a clear indication that the country cares for democracy in a great way. Countries that do not care about democracy will only drive relationships between themselves and other governments.  We cannot risk a relationship with none-democratic states.Democracy itself is a grassroots product. The demos (the people) are historically the initiators of this system of governance. Democracy is a system born out of class struggle and the fact that Japan envies to eradicate poverty is a clear indication that they are interested in safeguarding this system of governance not only in their country but across the world. For the brief time I was in Japan I came to realise that their poor are an equivalence of middle income earners in Botswana. No single democracy can ever eradicate the excesses of profit and privilege advanced by capitalism. However, the Japanese are ahead of many countries in their efforts of total poverty eradication.

The military in Japan has not taken centre stage in its economy until now. Right after the country’s exit from WW2, they no longer considered their domestic security concerns a more pressing priority over the economy. We need to learn a significant lesson from their approach to the military. For a wealthy country such as Japan to abandon building an industrial military complex is a lesson for Botswana to tone down in its military spending and focus on pursuing Rapid Economic Development (RED).  Currently our military budget is a liability to the economy. For a country whose hospital scans and x-ray machines have been out of action for more than a year now would certainly shift that 3% of the GDP to more value adding items. Botswana is not a big spender in real terms and dollar value but here we are focusing on the GDP slice which remains unsustainable. We could also propose to the Japanese that we get into a defence agreement where we would adopt their obsolete military hardware if we have pressing needs for such items. In fact we could sign a defence pact with Japan and have them take action to protect us in case of any military threat. Well, I could write a lot on this in order to defend my position but that’s a topic for another day. 

Contracting the Japanese for our security needs is nothing new in history. They themselves left their security in the hands of the Americans after the ending of WW2. That gave them the opportunity to fast track their industrialisation. All the issues of our marriage to Japan need to be brought into the public discourse for interrogation by academics, politicians and the public at large. Botswana’s marriage to Japan would help our country’s competitiveness in the global economy of the 21st century. As a nation we need to have a serious paradigm shift.

*Richard Moleofe is a Retired Military Officer (Distinguished Service Medal)