Are we the Arsenal of African economics?

In preparing a budget in whatever capacity, the advice one gets from a superior is, “Don’t be bullish, tell it as it is. There is no point in painting a beautiful picture which is not realisable. And please, don’t tax the resources to death.” In other words, one should not stack the plate with only aspirations. Where are the resources and the plans to achieve them?

The subject discussed with passion all over the world is politics, in as much as it is the vehicle for controlling and allocating the resources that deliver bread to the table. To this end political leaders and the parties they lead are targeted for bashing in case of failure of which we see too many these days.

Also discussed as passionately is football known here as soccer. Soccer and politics are twins in the way they are treated.  Soccer is the sport that serves as the opium for the pains of the citizenry and the exhaust for bottled- up happiness. A failed political leader gets voted out while a soccer manager tends to have very short tenure unless he is of the type called Arsene Wenger of a certain North London Team.

Arsene Wenger, by a short term standard of measure, is a flop. He does not win important trophies. Arsenal has become the whipping boy of the major football clubs. Yet Wenger has the longest tenure in the English Premier League in recent history. The club owners are happy with him because he knows how to make the money for them and assure sustainability. He thinks long-term. He abhors short term fixes, much to the frustration of the fans. When he meets the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, he is able to convince them that the future – not only today or the day after – is extremely bright.

Transposed to Ghana’s politics or economic management, how would Wenger’s long-term Philosophy succeed as a stand-alone? Not a chance. The fact of the matter is that Ghana’s crying needs are sore. They require immediate attention. On the other hand, these needs are growing exponentially by the passage of each day. There is the need to think long term but foundations must be laid now with “low hanging fruits” otherwise known as quick fixes.

However the fans do not have the strength and the patience to plant an odum and wait for 100 years before felling it for lumber. The houses bequeathed to them by their grandfathers such as Nkrumah, Acheampong and Kufuor are collapsing.

So Ghana’s approach to her economic and financial management has to be a blend of short-termism, medium-termism and long-termism. The level of success depends on the proportions in the blend. Failure to maintain a balance in a National Budget is a courtship to suicide.

The approach to solving the erratic power supply (dumsor) that has plagued national life with only brief remissions over the past  15 years is immediate, medium term and long-term. So are the solutions to healthcare, sanitation, education, agriculture and industrialisation. It is with this blend and their measures that the programme for stabilisation and transformation will be pursued.

In this budget, the visions, aspirations and objectives have been highlighted with figures. Do these figures have integrity? If they do not have solidity, then we are building the future on shifting sands and will be rewarded with missed targets. If we are sure of the base for the projections, then the next question is, do we have the resources?

Here the response would be “Yes”, if we could practice good housekeeping, banishing the scourge of corruption that produces huge leaks in the economy. Occupy Ghana  – whatever they stand for  –  seem to be making the right noises about corruption. If we could discount the personalities and listen only to their hoots and toots, this budget should have a fair chance of succeeding.

This is not a belt-tightening budget. But let us not forget about the IMF. In preparation for this bogey man, we need a blend of silky managers and task masters. Ghana needs the Maurhinos for instant results; the Pepe Gaudiolas for the medium term; the Arsene Wengers for the long term. Locally available are the Oko Vanderpuijes, the Seth Tekpers and Avram Grant (who is said to be as thoroughly tactical as an Israeli could be)…Oh yes, a very rich blend who must have the guts to rein in unnecessary spending and foster discipline.

frazierjoek@gmail.com

Author: 1.Blame not the Darkness  |  2. Akora