Botswana’s robust economy is in great danger of becoming a “one-trick pony.”  That one trick is diamonds and as long as it does the trick well, life is ok.  But the economic devastation following the recent collapse in global demand for diamonds shows that we need diversification.

Diamond revenues and foreign investment have contributed greatly to the quality of life, but they can only accomplish so much.  Entrepreneurship and innovation, especially by local small businessess, are the keys to long-term growth.  They are also vital to creating jobs for lower and middle class Batswana.

Entrepreneurs are the grease of any economy.  They are ordinary men and women with local knowledge and an adventurous spirit.  Every great company started as a new and risky venture with a doubtful chance of success.  The world's greatest corporations started as family businesses in garages and barns.  And those families made themselves and all around them wealthier.

There is no lack of support for the idea of “entrepreneurship” in the halls of Parliament.  From CEDA to LOA, a host of initiatives aim to support this kind of growth.  Certainly education and culture are important factors – lore lo ojwa lo sa le metsi.  But the presence or lack of entrepreneurial behaviour has much less to do with what the Government is doing to help than with what it is doing to interfere.

Entrepreneurship is not a fancy name for a fancy process requiring fancy agencies to teach “tselakgopo” how to live.  It simply refers to ordinary people seeing ways to help themselves and others by making and trading goods and services.  It cannot be created by an agency, but it can definitely be impeded by one.

You would think that a government concerned with economic growth would be putting as few barriers as possible in front of these people - especially the smallest and newest ventures.  But instead, the Botswana Government (along with most African nations) seems bent on discouraging its citizens from making their country and themselves better off.

According to the World Bank's Doing Business measures, starting a business in Botswana requires no less than 10 different bureaucratic procedures!  It takes an average of 61 days to acquire all the necessary permits and can cost the business starter hundreds of Pula in Government fees.

Compare this to some of the world's strongest economies.  In the United States of America (USA), it takes six procedures, six days, and a pittance to start a business.  In Hong Kong, China, it takes only three procedures and six days.  In Australia, two procedures in two days with almost no fees will get a business the necessary permits.

Seeing these numbers, it is no wonder a poor but able Motswana employee remains in his job or looks for work with a visiting international firm.  He may see a way to do something cheaper, work for himself, and strengthen his country's economy, but why should he risk so much when his Government is going to make it so difficult for him?

Anyone who has attempted to deal with construction permits, housing and land permits, and any other obstruction thrown into the path of developing business will know that these numbers only begin to tell the story.  Local small businessmen are stuck in an endless cycle of attempting to acquire the right permits and abide by all the nitpicky rules.  In the end, they find themselves so bogged down and poor that they cannot invest capital and grow their businesses.

Every businessman who is unable to grow his business is a man who cannot hire another unemployed Batswana.  He is a man who cannot add to his country’s income and tax revenue.  And he unwittingly becomes another example of shoddy local business humiliating his fellow businessmen.  Even now we hear calls to take contracts away from “incompetent” local companies and give them to foreign corporations that can guarantee results.  Maybe if the local companies could bypass the permits and bureaucracy, they could produce results!

If President Ian Khama wants to empower ordinary Batswana to provide for themselves and encourage local economies to grow, he doesn't need to hire another economic expert to start a new programme.  Beautiful words don’t put porridge in the pot.  Rather, he needs to fire a large number of bureaucrats whose permits and demands merely hurt the chances of success for small business owners.

Real prosperity does not come from government economic initiatives.  It does not come from high-level business meetings between important corporate leaders.  It comes when ordinary people can start businesses in their garage, sell the fruits of their labour to their fellow citizens, and enrich themselves and others by their actions.

BY LUKE JOSEPH