Kamati Katate
30 November 2011
opinion
As I write this, I am about to go to Safari Hotel for the much talked about, much advertised, Namibia International Investment Forum taking place from 29 – 30 November 2011, in Windhoek.
We are informed that the essence of the gathering is to “provide an opportunity for international investors to discover the potential of Namibia.”
Bombarded with many adverts, many of you have already found place, in your souls, for this gathering. While there is nothing wrong with an event like that, on the surface, the minds of the informed are placing this event in context and see what it means and can mean for our nation state.
Your teacher follows that fashion. He will, indeed, conduct an analysis of the said event.
It will occur, to the informed, that any trade or investment activities are done to bring about development and economic growth of a nation state.
The logic is always that we are to follow what the developed nations have done, that is to industrialise. This narrative is embroiled with hypocrisy.
The erudite are aware that developed nations, especially Europe, were industrialised by the blood and sweat of peoples from faraway places, especially the developing world in general and Africa in particular.
It would also occur to the informed that developing domestic industries or adopting import substitution industrialization policies brought about their industrialization.
They had, indeed, aggressively pursued infant industry protection measures. Now ask why we are opening our legs to investors like we are doing at Safari conference centre.
We are told that to develop, we need foreign direct investment (FDI). Meaning that foreigners must come and make profit from our nation state so that we can develop.
We are not told who genuinely developed on this path. The marathon of political managers is to create jobs so they appear to be governing well. What kind and length of the said jobs, to be created, is immaterial to these dwarfs. Ramatex came, created the job temporary orgasm and left.
Thousands became jobless. They had already started borrowing and getting loans from white banks in an illusion that they had secured permanent jobs. Ramatex was a FDI too, lest you forget, dear students.
How these workers ended up is a mystery that the Ministry of Trade and Industry must explain to us.
Foreign investors are those we have seen closing and retrenching workers during the global financial crisis. At Safari, they are now looking for a new Ramatex and others alike.
The reason why foreigners are choosing Namibia is because of its greater propensity towards cheap labour. Cheap labour means you work like a donkey, get paid peanuts, while foreign investors, loved by stomach politicians, take the rest in profit.
Let us be clear that there is a need and role of the FDI. I agree, but that must not be done on a wholesale fashion like what they are doing at Safari.
“If you are stating that there is a role and need of foreign direct investment, why is teacher ridiculing the Safari event?” you may ask.
The answer to the above lies in what we had discussed earlier that developed nations had developed domestic industries, adopted import substitution industrialization policies and aggressively pursued infant industry protection measured.
I very much doubt if they had organized gatherings like what is happening at Safari.
What is the local version of an event like what is happening at Safari today? While the licence has been granted long time ago, have we seen the SME bank to fruition?
Are our products already on the shelves of South African retailers in Namibia? We hear that our products, of our local farmers, are not of quality and all that – should this argument stand, what has the ministry done to train and equip them to be the best they can be?
In a September 2003 study done with the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI), Ntwala Mwilima had advised us on the damages of the FDI to an economy such as ours.
She observed that FDI “[can lead to] the trade deficit (being) a real constraint for developing countries. If investors import more that they export, FDI can end up worsening the trade situation of the country; [FDI can lead to] pricing of intra-firm transactions which does not reflect the true value of products entering and leaving the country. This could lead to a drain of national resources.
Countries may lose out on tax revenue from corporations, as they are able to juggle their accounts in such a manner as to avoid their tax liabilities.
“TNCs [Transnational Companies] may damage host economies by suppressing domestic entrepreneurship and using their superior knowledge, worldwide contacts, advertising skills, and a range of essential support services to drive out local competitors and hinder the emergence of small-scale local enterprises.” Whether those at Safari have thought about the above is what we must ask them.
FDI is needed yes, but we must first help the babies to grow. A villager may not want to eat dessert when she does not possess even a single grain of mahangu.
‘Shaamonathana omuti nomuti’ – We shall meet again
 Kamati kaTate is a Community Mobilizer whose area of interest is observing Politics as both an art of the possible and as a medium of distribution of resources as to who gets what, when, where and how.
AllAfrica – All the Time