One of the unforgettable images preceding the collapse of communism was chaotic scenes of East Germans scampering over the Berlin Wall to capitalist West Berlin. Hordes of fleeing Eastern Germans crowding exits on the Berlin Wall became enduring images of the collapsing communist empire. To western democracies, the sight of East Germans fleeing their homeland was strong vindication of the virtues of a free society.
In a celebrated speech, Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, explained the implosion of communism as the consequence of failure to tap into the resourcefulness and innovativeness of its citizen. Giving Russia as an example, the Iron Lady noted how despite being endowed with many resources, the economy of a communist country cannot compete with a capitalist democracy that accords its citizens freedoms.
For African countries struggling with high rates of unemployment, the scramble out of East Berlin offers an important lesson on the vital linkage between ideology and economics. For although communists claimed their system was superior to capitalism, the sight of citizens voting with their feet was ample and indisputable evidence of which system is inferior. The collapse of communisms not only affirmed the virtues of free enterprise, it proved the vital linkage between the ability of an economy to create employment and ideology of the leaders.
I was reminded of the lesson from communist implosion after watching media reports of Africans risking their lives on dangerous Mediterranean waters on makeshift boats in search of better life in Europe. Just as the sight of East Germans scrambling to the west signified failure of communist ideology, the exodus of many Africans in pursuit of better life abroad indicates a tragic failure economic policies and political ideologies. Not only is watching the suffering of fellow Africans saddening, it leaves one feeling exasperated at the failure of continental leadership to rescue the situation. For a continent whose citizens were forced into slavery in foreign lands, the sight of later-day generations voluntarily scrambling to leave their motherland is humiliating.
Equally unacceptable and just like the British “Iron Lady” said of Russia, Africa is blessed with numerous resources that can enable the continent to outperform economies that have become the preference of job seekers. As the invention of M-Pesa has shown, Africans are capable of competing with the best in the world when provided the right environment. Given ample talent and resources there is therefore no reason any African should be begging to be admitted in foreign countries.
It is with this background that the Kenya Kwanza (KK) government unprecedented initiative of signing a bilateral Agreement to allow Kenyans to work in foreign countries is unsettling in many ways. Whereas on the one hand the initiative by KK administration immediately opens job opportunities for desperate Kenyans, employment pacts with foreign governments’ amounts to admitting we have ran out of ideas of how to grow our economy. Not only do such deals cede national duty to a foreign government, they tie Kenyan fortunes to economic dynamics in countries whose internal policies are out of our control.
Additionally, instead of building the requisite human capital for our economy, a policy of exporting talent abroad makes Kenya a source of cheap labour and forever beholden on foreign experts such as Adani. Unwittingly, such policies perpetuate our dependence on developed nations while maintaining the lopsided North/South relationship that has made African countries permanent exporters of raw materials and importers of finished goods.
While these ideological perspectives will undoubtedly bring little comfort to unemployed Kenyans, a government policy of making Kenya a source of cheap labor for developed nations is clearly not in our long run best interests either. Such a strategy is at best a band aid that addresses short term political goals while undermining our ability to grow the requisite human capital to sustain our economy.
As President Kibaki’s administration ably demonstrated, the Kenyan economy can be turned around by leaders that are willing to address economic bottlenecks. The question that begs is why the KK administration has failed to turn around the economy and is taking the easy route of exporting Kenya’s unemployed abroad.
As the collapse of communism illustrated, every economy should give the private sector the space to grow. However and as many pundits have pointed out, our economy has been captured by a political elite who want to control every facet of the economy because of personal interests. Being conflicted by selfish interest, the KK administration has therefore proved unable to cut back on government involvement in the economy because doing so would hurt personal interests.
Not only does state capture breed economic inefficiencies it results in crowding out of the more enterprising private sector. Under such condition, thousands of Kenyans are condemned to a life of queuing for menial jobs in foreign lands because their leaders are chronically addicted to expensive watches.
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