A country like Rwanda has demonstrated the transformational power of governance reforms. Through this, the leadership of the country has regenerated Rwanda and moved it from the lower rungs of the development ladder higher up as both a prime investment choice and tourism destination. Everyone now wants to have something to do with Rwanda. Just last week, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Mastercard and other partners launched the African School of Governance (ASG) in Kigali and named our brother, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu as its pioneer President. According to the founders, the ASG is a transformative graduate tasked with developing a new generation of purpose-driven with the skills and mindsets to help Africa address the challenges of the 21st century. What a difference transformative leadership can make moving a small country with limited resources in 30 years from the abyss of a brutal genocidal conflict to pride of the continent.Of course there are genuine concerns about democratic freedom in Rwanda. But that’s a matter for another day. My focus here is on the country’s institutional and governance reforms which has spurred its huge developmental strides. According to the World Bank, countries that have done what Rwanda did are capable of recording improved economic growth, enhanced international credibility, increased public trust, better allocation of resources and sustainable development. Rwanda, today, is rated high on global transparency and corruption tracking institutions like Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Transparency International, World Bank’s Governance Indicators and Open Budget Index, among others.
Emerging economies like Nigeria interested in fostering sustainable business practices must also invest in innovation, research and development. When we look at the success story of Silicon Valley in the USA, or what is going on now with ICT in Bangalore in India, or how Singapore transformed itself, or even how Israel has used technology to turn into an economic force, we will see the clear link between research, innovation and transformative economic growth. This involves, among other things, fostering innovation hubs and incubators, enforcement of intellectual property laws, development of technology transfer and licensing schemes, provision of tax incentives, especially for cutting edge research and development; an area we sorely lag. To fix our research and development deficit, both the government and corporations should support our universities and research institutes to conduct cutting edge research, especially in the areas more directly relevant to our needs as a nation.
These include science and technology, engineering, pharmaceuticals and biomedicals. This is not to suggest that we should ignore the humanities and social sciences as we also need them to help nurture our spirits ensuring that we do not become one-dimensional, soulless and plastic beings. We can only imagine the impact of the works of the likes of Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and lately, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on us, sometimes subliminally, as well as our supremely talented artistes, too many to mention, who have taken the music world by storm. Undoubtedly, the culture industry offers great opportunities for the transformation of the Nigerian economy, even with little to no government support, as has since become evident. However, the Nigeria economy will continue to stagnate and falter if we don’t urgently enthrone a congenial business climate to spur local entrepreneurs and foreign investors. We routinely talk big about ease of doing business, but have often failed to follow through. As an entrepreneur, I speak from direct experience of how multiple taxations, burdensome regulatory processes and corrupt public officials stymie investment.
Much needed corporate governance reforms will enable Nigeria to participate and benefit from global innovation networks, collaborate with international research institutions, engage in technology transfer agreements, access foreign investment and funding and make the most of emergent global and regional market frameworks. Realigning an emerging economy to global trends is not without its challenges top among which is intense competition with much more advanced economies. But like in every contest, we have our relative edge which we must harness to our benefit. In an increasingly interconnected global economy, we cannot be an island unto ourself. Even in the heat of intense competition, global business trends now favour ethical, socially responsible and eco-friendly practices for the sake of our common humanity and future generations. Again, as the Brundtland Commission report- Our Common Future reminds us, we cannot just live today without caring about tomorrow. And to achieve that, all hands must be on deck- governments, businesses and civil society.
The way forward
To succeed, this multifaceted, all-hands-on-deck effort for a sustainable business future must not only be robust and well thought out, but also have verifiable timelines with measurable deliverables. To help think it through, I recommend a committee of experts from across government, business, the academia, civil society and development partners. It is expected that the report of this expert group on Green Economy will set clear benchmarks and timelines for effective implementation. The timelines could be in three broad categories- short, medium and long term, each with clear activities and benchmarks with some activities traversing the timelines to allow for consolidation.
Without pre-empting the proposed expert group, it is my opinion that such regenerative vision should include policies that encourage businesses to diversify into non-oil sectors; support innovation and entrepreneurship hubs and incubators; promote export-oriented businesses to boost foreign exchange earnings; enhance local content development capacity in key sectors like agriculture and manufacturing; foster greater public-private partnerships (PPPs) in all sectors of the economy including innovation, research and development of critical infrastructure; stimulate investment in education at all levels including skills acquisition and development of human capital; ensure improved access to finance, especially to Small and Medium Scale businesses; create necessary infrastructure for digital technologies that drive the world today including the emergent Artificial Intelligence (AI); invest heavily and strategically in clean and renewable energies relative to the resources available to us (e.g. wind, solar); genuinely driving the ease of doing business to spur investment and promotion of good governance and combating the scourge of corruption.
Check this story for Part 6
Sustainable business practices in emerging economies (6)