An economist has warned government against practising State-controlled governance, as it will not lead to economic growth. Speaking at a high level debate last week, senior adviser in the USAID strategic economic research and analysis programme, Ashok Chakravarti said the idea of State interfering in development is defunct.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
“Before, we had the model of the Soviet Union and China, where everything is done by the State, where they took care of everything, they took care of development. Now, that model of development is basically defunct, does not work and the evidence that is there shows that it does not work,” Chakravarti said.
“Even the Chinese have rejected it and are basically capitalists now and that is the reason why their economy is moving ahead. Unfortunately, in Zimbabwe we are still stuck in the statist idea.”
This comes as the many economists have warned that the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act signed into law in 2008 requiring foreign-owned firms to sell at least 51% shares to locals was keeping foreign investors at bay.
Chakravati said development happens “when you have a good enabling government that has been put in place”.
“We must not think top-down, this idea that somehow resources are going to come into the country and lift us all up, is not the way development happens,” he said.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“So the alternative model of development is that the State essentially should just create a good environment to relieve all your energies, so it should have the right policy to get all of you going.”
He said the economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation, is a good investment plan, but was a top-down idea.
“We need polices that relieve the energies of the people and allow them to benefit from their own productive work and those are the policies that are being adopted in China, India and all over Africa,” Chakravati said.
He said currently there were no good policies and that government needed to start thinking in that direction of how other emerging markets are adopting development polices.
Since independence, government crafted a number of policies which failed on implementation and unavailability of resources.
