by Kevin Lings (Pan MacMillan)
Out of financial services giant Stanlib comes the widely-experienced Kevin Lings and his well-considered views about what’s lacking in the country’s quest for growth that could lead to a better life for all.
Lings, chief economist at Stanlib and formerly from JP Morgan’s macroeconomic research team, does not just rant away about all the negatives in an arrogant manner across his 204 pages. He gives room to the positive economic developments since liberation in 1994, some of which have been exceptional by world standards.
However, these have to be urgently complemented by other important initiatives to prevent the economy from getting derailed, “leading to increased unemployment, an outflow of foreign investment and rising social tension”.
His prescription includes looking at aspects of the country’s economic infrastructure and making life easier for established and potential business people at all levels, largely because new companies and ventures will mean new job opportunities.
But, exactly how business-friendly some of the country’s leaders from the Tripartite Alliance are willing to become is another issue.