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Nicholas Bhero
Economics, is nothing but a function of numerical facts. This is why it is built on the principle of finite resources which then means, you can’t make someone richer without making someone else worse off.
For this reason big economies in the world had to use colonisation, exploitation, invasion and sanctions to unapologetically make sure they are the better off and third world countries be worse off. It’s called pareto efficiency.
One speaker once said, democracy is simply defined as too many fools on one side. If democracy was really an efficient system of governance, it would have been incorporated into global politics. However, certain parts of the world continue to be run through authoritarian means. We saw how the US under the Trump Administration blocked Huawei technologies to preserve their research in 5G technology.
If China had been allowed to lead the world in 5G technology, the long term effects to global super power politics were severely unfavourable to the US and a hard call had to be made.
The Ukraine-Russia war is another classic example of super power geo-politics that has no democracy attached to it. The big boys are shooting punches at each other and they are unapologetically using Ukraine as a boxing ring.
From agrarian to space revolution, from spears with stone-heads to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with nuclear warheads, human beings have been in competition with each other.
From one civilization to another to regional and global bodies, human beings have never been good agents of cooperation.
Whilst competition and war has been a source of cutting edge inventions, it has also been a major contributor to the worst poverty and suffering the human race has had to endure.
I would love to defend the capitalists and the oligarchs but they make up the smallest percentage of the global population, hence, I have to speak for the masses.
It is simply unacceptable that the world has to suffer at the mercy of a few luxuries enjoyed by a handful. What’s sad is that as a nation, we are sold the narrative of how elections or change of government will transform the lives of the people. Whilst these are capable of fostering or inspiring change, the power remains in the hands of the few.
Why are people called to vote for political representatives but are never called to vote for policies that are being passed day in day out so as to give them voices where it really matters.
How does giving someone power privileges connect to the betterment of people’s lives?
In the age of technology the politics of selecting few representatives to make key decisions for the masses needs to be backed up by a consultation with the masses. The democratic processes will remain fallacies as long as they are all about chanting down with so and so or the getting out or in of some boy.
As long as our electioneering is about dividing and pulling down each other we will continue to suffer as a nation.
Our democratic processes should transition and become a case of custodial leadership, about choosing the right man or woman to be the custodian of the executive powers meant to execute the National Vision.
The politics of our day would impress me if the political players were to call each other to a national table where they work together to facilitate the design of a common national vision.
There is only one factor which characterizes all functional and developed economies no matter what government systems they follow. It is the existence of a common national vision.
Power may shift hands and campaign messages may change or be as polarised as the Biden and Trump messages but the acts of America are the same.
Zimbabwe needs to come up with a common vision for its strategic sectors, our push for irrigation development must be engraved in Zimbabweans not in a political party. Our call to get the trillions of US dollars worth of minerals buried underground should be the same from the cockerel building to the harvest house to wherever the yellow people convene.
Our strategy for tourism should be as sound in yellow as it is in green or red.
Outside the centrality of national focus, we will remain vulnerable to international interference and susceptible to sabotage.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
The national vision will form the plan and inform the foundation of lasting economic and social policies that the nation will build on.
Even our education will be feeding into the construction of our common goals, facilitating inventions and innovations towards the desired outcomes. Patriotism is not party exclusive as our political space may suggest.
This misconception of patriotism is a clear indicator of the absence of a national vision. Even certain political speeches we may blame on the citizens as unpatriotic and treasonous are simply outcomes of the national vision vacuum.
If we bring together our citizens around a common purpose, we will never witness criminal saboteurs again. Give someone something good to cheer on and they won’t waste their time singing songs of distraction.
Here are five spaces I hope to see the national vision building on, mining, agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and tourism. These five have the capacity to contribute immensely to
our economy, employment and forex earnings. We do have absolute and comparative advantages in these spaces, from our huge gold reserves, climate, limestone, solar hours, to
the wide variety of flora and fauna.
Why we need a leader is more important than who is our leader. As columnists we are simply there to spark conversations, and if real insight exists we hope to inspire outcomes.
Nicholas Bhero is an author, transformational speaker and businessman.He is the Managing Director of Fincorp Advisory and Chairman of Stir Zimbabwe Trust. He writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on +263 778 600300 or
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