People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) Leader Andyford Banda says Zambia is headed for economic downturn.
Sharing on Dynamic Analysis Zambia (DAZ) WhatsApp group this morning, Mr. Banda stressed the need for an urgent radical shift in the country’s economic systems.
Mr. Banda warned that without a radical shift in the country’s economic systems Government will be forced to borrow more and more money to meet the needs of the increasing population going forward.
And the opposition leader bemoaned the incessant justification of Government debt acquisition without addressing the root cause.
Meanwhile, Mr. Banda observed that the SME base is dying because banks in Zambia are failing to support them.
The People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) Leader explained that the root cause is that the country does not have local private businesses that reinvest profits within the economy.
Mr. Banda added that majority of the profits made in Zambia are exported, affirming that countries that are doing better economically have at least local businesses that reinvest profits within their economies and on top of that they import profits from other countries especially poor ones like Zambia.
“CDF is not what will make us own the means of production. Truth is that we need a radical shift in thinking and disentangle from the colonial thinking that we can’t do things on our own. We can’t be busy looking for investors to come take away profits in the name of providing jobs and taxes. That’s not adequate. We need a radical shift period. What is the UPND government doing in real terms not propaganda terms to ensure local businesses (not cadres) become the main players in the mines with the projected demand of copper and other rare earth metals as a result of energy transition?” Mr. Banda said
Meanwhile, Mr. Banda said the short-term solution is to deal with things within the control.
He emphased that there is no good idea that can flourish with a wrong political system.
Mr. Banda noted that Zambia need to start by overhauling the operations of Government and get the right people there not based on partisan or ethnic affiliation.
“We need a government that will be honest enough to want to change things not just to have power. To do that we have to build a platform for everyone to flourish regardless of their political opinions that’s where the best short-term solutions will come from. One thing people don’t realize is that governments in today’s world cannot afford to apply post-independence politics. Things are changing and you need to move with time. You cannot for example fixate your mind to rig and frustrate opposition without aggressively dealing with economic issues. “he said
And Mr. Banda said people say things were cheaper or better in Patriotic Front (PF) but that is a lazy argument because things would be worse even if the PF had continued.
“The wrong political and economic systems being perpetuated are the catalyst for the rapid deterioration of the economy. That’s why under PF poverty levels went up from 56% in 2015 to 60% 2022. So this trend will keep getting worse and faster with increase in population if we maintain the same systems.” Mr. Banda said
