By Economic.Governance

My son, a Zambian like me did his post-secondary school in Penang, Malaysia for about four years. He tells me, whenever he asked his colleagues at school, “What does Malaysia do for you,” he was told, “Here, we don’t ask the country to do anything for us. Instead, we tell the country what we can do for it. That is why we are now competing with advanced countries. We are able to make things for exports within Asia and in the world. We have built our own roads connecting each Asian country together. We hardly borrow from the IMF. We don’t complain about the price of rice because we grow our own.”

In Zambia, while I was doing my research, I asked Indian Zambians, “What is Zambia doing for you?” Almost all of them gave a uniform answer, “We don’t ask the country what it must do for us.” “I have been running a shop which I inherited from my father many years ago and once I retire, I have already trained my son to take over. We have been selling clothes since independence.” It is true. In Lusaka, Indian Zambians own almost all the shops in Kamwala area and other areas. If you find one owned by a black Zambian, chances are that they don’t last for long. It is only a few years ago since they started running hardware shops that sell building materials in competition with Indian Zambians. But sooner rather than later, they are all likely to be wiped out by aggressive and vigorous competition from their Indian compatriots.

Zambia’s industry is largely in the hands of Indian Zambians, making hoes, wheelbarrows, axes, rakes and other basic tools but which are all necessary for performing certain important tasks. I am not even talking about the copper mines but simple industrial activities. Indians, not black Zambians own factories that manufacture soft drinks or beverages other than the established ones made by international organizations like Fanta and coke. Yes, there are a few back Zambians owning soft-drink-making companies but they are few. The chemical industry is not owned by black Zambians but a mixture of Indian, colored and others. Fertilizer is not made and distributed by black Zambians but those that have settled there. Zambia’s horticultural industry is not owned by black Zambians but white or Indian Zambians. Of course there are few black Zambians but look, I am talking about serious business here. Visit all serious horticultural farms in Zambia and come back and have a discussion with me.

Other than Government, the tourist industry is largely owned by non-black Zambians. I am talking about all elements that constitute tourism. Transport does not belong to black Zambians but white, Indian and other Zambians. Recreations aspects and entertainment of tourism as well are not owned by you and me as black Zambians. Then there are hotels and lodges. The real serious hotels and lodges are not owned by you and me but other Zambians. Yes, a few small ones but often lacking quality are owned by you and me. But it is largely a preserve of non-black Zambians.

Generally, serious farming is the preserve of non-black Zambians. I know several black ones including Chilala who are mentioned as serious farmers. I congratulate them and ask them to continue the good work. However, largely, farmers who grow maize, flowers, tobacco, sugar, cotton, feeding stuff for animals, oil seeds and vegetables, all Zambia’s top export agriculture products are not black Zambians. The largest and most serious dairy farming is not done by you and me but out non-black Zambian compatriots.

Black Zambians have lamentably failed to own mining, the chief contributor to the economy. It is surrendered to foreign owners. In Malaysia, Malaysians create and export semi-conductor and electronic products, palm oil, machinery and some equipment. Even if some of these industries are owned by foreign investors, local Malaysians largely own what they export.
It is mainly privately-owned economic activities that blossom into instruments for reducing poverty. Not the Government. At least that is what happens in Asian countries. But here, you read comments from bloggers, opposition parties and other Zambians. There is only one poor guy that they blame: Government or the country. Mr. Zulu said the other day, “Government must reduce the price of mealie meal. We are unable to buy mealie meal these days because it is too expensive. I can hardly feed my children.” We complain of taxation, money is not in circulation, we are hungry, and Zambia is the poorest country.

At individual level, our main success lies in ownership of personal cars imported from Japan and other places. Here, we don’t talk about the country or Government. Some of us have two, three or even five cars in one family. Of course they are earned by our hard work although part of this statement not always true. We are equally successful in owning houses, which is extremely good. But we have failed to replicate these skills to ownership of business or hard and honest work in offices in order to show what we can do for our country. It is true that Government and those governing must lay sufficient ground for us to do business or work effectively and feed our family. But successful countries are a result of individual work habits and how we contribute to the country’s development.

[pullquote]Life cannot simply be about criticizing Government or the country. It must be about what we all can do for the country.[/pullquote]

Zambia is perhaps the only country in Africa where board members of companies and organizations are paid. If members of Parliament are paid in South Africa, it is because the country can afford, not Zambia. It implies, if not paid, Zambians will not attend these meetings. We didn’t have this kind of parasitic behavior when the country had money. It is a paradox that we chose to acquire this dependence behavior when the country is not doing very well. As said earlier in other articles, GDP and trade may be rising but that is not translation into food. It beats common sense that as the cow gets smaller and smaller, and the milk that it produces is getting little and little, we are able to pay board members and parliamentarians.

Lessons from President John F. Kennedy

That is why, John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address in 1961, as President of the USA is still remembered today. It is remembered, and many Americans and others outside, including children are inspired by the words, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Experts say these words, “challenged every American to contribute in some way to the public good. In this lesson, students learn about a theme in President Kennedy’s inaugural address, civic action, and consider how it applies to their own lives.”

Life cannot simply be about criticizing Government or the country. It must be about what we all can do for the country. So far, the marks relating to what we can do for the country are not very high. What are high are marks about what the country can do for us. By regional standards, especially compared to Asia, we are not hard workers. We don’t create. We don’t innovate. We simply do basic things for the country. We need to work hard as individuals for the country. We need to be calm and polite. We need to be humble.

By Mwatula Chiti

As we draw closer to the end of the financial year 2017,it is quite intriguing to sit back as a young spectator and watch 19 financial institutions jostle for a larger piece of the proverbial cake – a modern day race for cash deposits. Year in and year out,this is every bank’s central objective, the reason behind the corporate tug-of-war in Zambia’s financial sector. It’s the not so complicated principle in the banking business. Amass as much money as possible, lend out most of it and enjoy the surplus gained from interest charged to borrowers.

However, it is quite ironic that a country with the sixth largest number of Commercial Banks in Southern Africa has one of the lowest rates of financial inclusion for citizens under the age of 35.This is the Zambian banking sector’s elephant in the room; “Who will bank the Youth in Zambia?” Only 6 of our 19 Commercial Banks have ‘youth-friendly’ bank account packages; 2 other banks have ‘student-friendly’ funds transfer services. The rest have a limited range relatively affordable products and services which they assume the average youth can afford. That beings said, gratitude must be given where its due, a big thumbs up to the 5 banks that are blazing a trail in this regard. It is even more perplexing to note that only 6 out the 19 market players have at least one tailor made banking product specifically designed to cater for the financial needs of the Youth.

Banks have several valid reasons for not aggressively mobilising deposits from among the young people in Zambia. Firstly, some of the foreign owned banks argue that their parent organisations stipulate their marketing strategies and prohibit their subsidiaries from pursuing such ventures.

A few other banks have stuck to their niche marketing strategies and decided to focus on small but lucrative market segments. Some banks only or rather mainly deal with government, while others focus on international organisations, large scale farmers and multinational corporations. Others focus on the upper and middle class of society and provide first class banking services to wealthy clients.

Pessimist technocrats and opponents of this line of thinking will rightly ask “what is there to bank from the young people? We would rather have one employed middle-aged client who keeps atleast an average deposit of ZMW 3,000 per month as opposed to opening 20 accounts for adolescents who can barely keep their account balance above K 250 each week!”

One can not blame banks for their risk averse stance and reluctance in directing much of their valuable attention and scarce resources towards this segment of Zambia’s population. It’s a free market economy and each player is at liberty to choose what their comparative advantage is and focus on market segments within which they stand a good chance of attaining their financial objectives.

Time and again our renowned economists and financial analysts have lamented the poor saving culture among young people in Zambia. In an article dubbed “Poor Saving Culture or Poor Incentives to Save in Zambia?” ; Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research reports that “some amount of confusion exists about the levels and proportions of savings in Zambia. (a named bank) estimates the savings-to-GDP ratio is below 20 percent while Bankers Association of Zambia estimates it at 5 percent. Surprisingly, however, none of these figures are officially published anywhere, which raises questions about their reliability. We therefore did our own calculations using BOZ data on savings deposits and total commercial bank liabilities (deposits) and Central Statistical Office data on nominal GDP. We found that savings deposits were around 2.8 percent of GDP in 2016. Thus, based on a very narrow definition of savings, one would argue that Zambians are poor at saving.”

That being said, keep in mind the fact that 30% of Zambia’s population comprises of the Youth. The most recent CIA World Factbook demographic profile of Zambia reports that 3,102,889 Zambian citizens are aged between 15 and 25; while 1,480,013.17 are aged between 25 and 35, which comes to a total of 4,582,902.17 Young people! 30% of the bankable population is up for grabs.

Dear banks, allow my financial imagination to run free. If a massive #BankTheYouthZambiaCampaign2018 was embarked upon by one of you, with a ‘K1’ minimum account balance promotion back by a ‘Zero’ bank charges clause; if only half of this target was achieved by the end of 2018, your balance sheet would record a wooping K2,291,451.085 increase in deposits mobilised.

I know my colleagues in the treasury and operations departments are giggling because of the costs that come with this proposition. Indeed such a campaign would require your bank to subsidize the account opening costs with long term benefits in hindsight. My colleagues in the corporate sales or retail banking departments are smiling too because it is easier said than done.

I’ll leave this as food for thought for the Zambia’s ‘top 5 banks’. They know themselves, they are the only ones with a branch network wide enough and staff compliment large enough to efficiently manage such a venture. But alas, the political will to embark of such a journey is usually only found in state owned firms where the the desire to achieve financial inclusion supersedes the appetite for short term profits.

I will conclude by sharing a wise saying from the east “Kugona pakati n’kuyambirira – (In a large household) You have to be first to retire to bed in order to be able to sleep in the middle.”

While the risk averse bank executive flips the page, the Telecoms executive /mobile service provider highlights a diamond in the rough. It is no wonder that mobile service providers have made colossal profits from the youth in the same economy by harnessing the demographic dividend which is still on the rise.

Alas, the race for deposits continues ! Aluta Continua dear banks!

The Bank Monitor.

The author is a former Corporate Banker and currently working as a Finance Officer at the African Union Commission. He is also a Financial Analyst, Satirical Blogger and an Activist for Youth Financial Inclusion in Zambia.