Govt. development agenda must be results oriented
The election this time around was quite exciting with quite a vigorous campaign as the national parties positioned themselves in the contest.
The staff from BTV, Radio Botswana and IEC Batswana well informed with all the developments where there was a lot of transparency, enriching information and publicising of the election process and outcomes. The commitment to long working hours demonstrated good work ethic which is one of the issues some of us economists emphasise in attaining productivity and a good example of the requisite work ethic that is needed across sectors to enhance efficiency and attain productivity gains.
The manner in which the process has been handled at least still speaks and would place Botswana well in terms of democracy and good governance. This is what observers have also found and these are factors that contribute to political stability where Botswana would continue to feature highly compared to other countries where elections are characterised by violent conflict. However, it is also interesting given that some expectations are on the new parliament, government to spearhead the development process. This is where significant effort should be directed to.
Since the development agenda continues for the government, it remains fundamental to focus on the realisation of results on the strategies, initiatives, programmes that have been put in place. There is already a lot of ground work on setting the policy framework and economic initiatives to address national challenges of poverty, high and persistent unemployment and diversification and the challenge has lately been on attaining and making progress on the results.
This has resulted in slow pace of diversification and continued high unemployment rates. Inclusive growth, youth unemployment are areas that continue to warrant attention as a policy priority especially to attain Botswana’s vision aspirations for a prosperous, productive and innovative nation. Human capital development stands to unlock Botswana productivity, efficiency and competitive potential with the prospects for transformation.
The still limited diversification and private sector potential to drive the growth process and be an engine for transformation, employment vehicle and requires continued focus with initiatives and sector specific incentives to enhance private sector development. In this regard priorities for development should be given prominence. The challenges facing Botswana at the moment are the high unemployment rates, poverty and inequality, the need for competitive human skills development, addressing poor work ethic, addressing and creating conducive business environment, the need to develop a sound and vibrant private sector economy.
Policies and strategies that currently exist should be effectively implemented and fine tuned to address these challenges meaningfully to ensure that more progress is attained. Fiscal policy reforms are requisite to have efficiency gains in programme and project delivery with public finance management systems, budget oversight and accountability structures. More focus should be directed towards enhanced accountability, capacity to deliver mandates and strategies and also at appropriately specified and implemented programmes. These would contribute towards realisation of results and hasten the pace of development and transformation.
NDP 10 is coming to an end as well as the Vision 2016. Work has commenced on the growth and development trajectory to draw the upcoming national development plan and national vision and these require a concerted effort to fast-track Botswana’s sustainable development goals. This requires appropriately well directed initiatives, programmes for implementation to bear results and their potential for growth. Linked closely is the post 2015 MDGs which would also be an area where more work and effort should be directed at to set Botswana objectives and supportive programmes and initiatives with the political will and buy in as it sets in motion.
From the policy perspective, diversification and having other sectors playing a much more sustainable role in the growth process should still remain a policy priority. The need to address competitiveness, productivity and work ethic are crucial for foreign direct investment into the country and business development. A solution to the water, power and energy crisis is emphasised since productivity of the government, private firms and households depends on these factors of production. Also they are crucial for creating a conducive business climate and provide investor confidence to business profitability which is a key factor for investment.
* Tabengwa is Senior Research Fellow, Macroeconomics BIDPA
