By Chaka Zulu

It is so disheartening and sad to read about Cabinet Ministers and the incumbent Chadiza Member of Parliament make pronouncements about downgrading a road that feeds the nation. How can one advocate that The Chipata – Chadiza and Vubwi roads should remain as gravel roads? Honestly?

Does it really make sense for these roads to only be graded with the foresight that the rainy season will be upon us? November is not too far away. The onset of the rains will wash these temporary stop-gap measures away.

My research on the importance of such feeder roads has shown that Government program and policy framework and the subsequent methods employed to invest in strategic community development actions do provide an enabling avenue for agricultural sector advancement and Investment in agricultural technology.

This has been observed over time and is certainly a major factor in historically proven examples of agricultural efficiency that ensure we as a nation have sufficient food reserves. This resonates with the presumption that activites are vibrant and geared towards the realization of oir National food Security agenda; especially the Goals of the 7th National Development Plan to eliminate the number of people living in hunger and poverty at all levels by the year 2030.

The challenge in agricultural research and development is by keeping previous output accomplishments. By enhancing agricultural invention and innovation which can distinguish outputs by value addition by making rural farmers have a meaningful proportion of output gains.

Food security can be said to exist when people, especially the low-income group, at all times, have access to adequate food supply for sustenance meeting every household dietary requirements for healthy living.

This is given the recent empirical observations that most activities by economic agents can be predicated upon the nature of institutional framework that is made even more viable and operational by a good feeder road system.

The Inadequacy of infrastructure facilities such as rural feeder roads among others further exacerbates poverty in rural areas by isolating rural farmers from needed inputs and access to sustainable and profitable markets.

On the other hand, the availability of basic amenities especially feeder roads can increase the returns for farmers in rural communities can realise from their farming endeavours. For instance, it has been noted that in rural Zambia, the provision of rural feeder roads has the potential of increasing internal rate of returns by 12 to 15 %. Pressure from rising populations is also affecting already declined resources, further threatening food production.
Over-farmed land, deforestation, and overgrazing are severe in many parts of the country for citizens want to settle were there is easy access to roads.

As much as we appreciate the efforts by the Government under the Link Zambia initiative, we from the Eastern province and Chadiza district in particular are appealing to Government to reconsider their decision to downgrade the roads in Eastern province and rather upgrade them to bituminous standards.

We want to reinforce the sentiments by the Paramount Chief of the Ngoni, Mpezeni that; “its unfortunate that the Government has decided to downgrade the roads in Eastern province”

The Author is the 2021 MMD Chadiza Parliamentary Aspirant

”WHAT ONE DOES IS WHAT COUNTS NOT WHAT ONE INTENTIONED TO DO” – Pablo Picasso

Here is a simple question can you name one successful Zambian Brand that came as a result of Empowerment Funds?

Here is another one, when you go to the ”Success Stories” page of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission page, Can you recognize a single company there or business that you, even as a consumer or Labour market participant has ever engaged with?

Just something to think about…

This weekend the hot topic discussion has been youth empowerment funds specifically the launch of a K470million mega youth empowerment fund on Saturday 15th of August 2020, which was officiated by President Lungu himself. Now, I must categorically state that I do not take joy in the failures or imminent failures of President Lungu and his administration because I believe that when you are on a plane you HOPE FOR THE PILOT TO SUCCEED. However, should the pilot be showing signs of reckless endangerment, then one has to call it out for the safety of the passengers. Unfortunately looking that the way this has been put together the government is better suited taking the same K470 MILLION pilling it together, pouring gasoline on it, and lighting it on fire as a bonfire because at least it will serve one night of use as warmth. I can confidently say the economy and the people will derive no value from this fund at all.

As well-intentioned as Government Managed Empowerment Funds Tend to be, they always fall short because of the few simple inherent flaws in their structure:

1. Inefficient Deployment and Dispensation of Capital
2. Use of other people’s funds and not personal capital creates a bad incentive for excessive and miscalculated risk-taking
3. The Failure to comprehend that +67% of the critical support that early-stage entrepreneurs need is Non-Financial.

According to a combination of the 2018 Citizen’s Economic Economic Empowerment Fund Annual Report and 2018 Auditor-General’s Parastatals Report approximately K300m has been deployed in business empowerment loans and 50% of that is sitting as non-performing loans leading to the statement that the companies are either failing or non-functional. It looks like this new iteration of empowerment funding is simply doomed to follow in the graveyard of its ancestors and predecessors.

The truth is no matter how much money is pumped into Government Empowerment Funds their failure to succeed is driven by structural factors not financial ones.

If you have ever had the chance to watch ”SHARK TANK” or its alternative ”Dragons Den”, you will see something remarkably different and you will see a much higher success rate with Shark Tank Businesses than any Government-Backed Empowerment Funds anywhere in the world.

The website Company Inc did an analysis of Shark Tank Companies that were invested and found the following outcomes;

– $143million in capital investment has been deployed
– 600 companies have received investments
– 56% of Applicants to Shark Tank Recieve investments
– Investments are experiencing significant revenue growth
– 75% of businesses are profitable
– 95% of companies are Operational

Shark Tank’s success is based on a few simple factors;

1. THE SHARKS ARE INVESTING THEIR OWN MONEY and this leads them to invest wiser, more carefully and objectively and offer greater support to guarantee their returns. When an investor is using their personal money they tend to be more objective and less corrupt.
2. THE SHARKS ARE SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS THEMSELVES so having gone through the entrepreneur’s journey themselves, they know how to spot a good business and talented and passionate entrepreneur and can offer mentorship and guidance.
3. THE SHARKS OFFER MUCH MORE THAN MONEY – When you get a shark you don’t just get the money you get a partner who sits on your board and offers a lot more than money. They offer mentorship and guidance, business structuring, business systems, new business relationships, new markets, supply chain renegotiation, and Valuable Brand endorsement. Venture capital studies and analytics show that most companies in the early stages are valued by management, ideas, and social/relational capital while total monetary capital is only valued at a maximum of 35%.

These are all factors that are missing from the Zambian Government Empowerment Funds which tend to serve more as a political sideshow than an investment vehicle.

The usual Lazy response in Zambia will be that Shark Tank is American and this is Zambia and that would be the easiest way to dismiss success while subtly state that one has low expectations of Zambia [which is quite racists to be honest] and Dismissing Shark Tank’s and Dragon Den’s success in Canada, Japan, England, South Africa, and Australia.

When Asked what Shark Tank Investors are seeking in an Entrepreneur they stated the following:

1. Passionate and Determined Entrepreneurs [THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR]
2. Growing Sales or visible potential grow sales
3. A solid business model and value proposition

Instead of just being a nagging citizen I would like to offer a possible solution because I was once told it is easier to find consensus on Solutions than it is to complain about a problem. Therefore I would say the government of Zambia is better served to support the following initiatives:

1. A reduction of Regulatory requirements for startup enterprises and guidance on micro standards, for example, a micro food processors guideline that is easier to comply with
2. Removal of Regulatory Bottlenecks giving problems to startups such as decentralization of product testing from ZABS to private hospitals
3. Raising of the Turnover Tax Threshold to K10 MILLION in annual revenue
4. Allowing Young Entrepreneurs to access loans equivalent to 35 percent of their Personal cumulative NAPSA contribution from Private Banks with NAPSA Deposits as Guarantees
5.  Incentives the Development of private industrial incubators and hubs that train people on Business Model Development, Value Models and Brand Models
6. Introduce Seminars to young people on how to startup business in a lean fashion and fly in speakers and entrepreneurs from around the world to talk to them and teach them
7.  Support for Business Mentorship program that incentivizes successful local entrepreneurs to mentor young entrepreneurs
8. Turn PACRA into a CLOUD BUSINESS SYSTEMS HUB where people can access cheap-cloud bases interconnected business systems.
9. Encourage the reading of Business Books by successful brands from around the world to help them understand and possibly get inspired.
10. Encourage young people to start businesses and enterprises in areas they are passionate about.

In a talk about why government investment doomed Professor Burton Folsom of Hillside College stated the following-

”Sustainable Economic Growth Comes from entrepreneurs risking their own money and not from politicians risking Taxpayers money”
Watch the full Video on the PragerU Youtube Channel