By Kumbukilani Phiri
Here is something we rarely discuss honestly and in depth.
Have we ever stopped to ask ourselves why, 62 years after gaining political independence, Zambia still struggles to point to truly world-class indigenous companies dominating our economy across major sectors?
The issue is deeper than capital, resources or even education. The real challenge is systems and the type of people required to sustain those systems.
Every successful company in the world is built on strong and sustainable systems. Those systems become the company’s competitive advantage. But systems alone are never enough. Systems only work when they are anchored by highly responsible people with discipline, integrity, commitment, technical competence and a results-oriented mindset.
You need people who can supervise themselves even when no one is watching. People who protect company resources as if they were their own. People driven by long-term success rather than short-term personal gain.
Unfortunately, this is where our biggest challenge lies as a country.
If we are being honest, many of our institutions have failed not because Zambia lacks intelligent people or resources, but because we have failed to build a culture of responsibility, accountability and integrity strong enough to sustain systems.
Look around. Councils are failing. Ministries struggle. Many parastatals collapse under inefficiency, corruption and poor management. Even in the private sector, many businesses fail the moment the owner stops personally monitoring everything. Systems collapse because the people entrusted to run them stop working for the institution and start working for themselves.
That is why many foreign-owned companies continue succeeding in Zambia while many local institutions struggle. Foreign companies often bring in people specifically trained to protect and enforce systems with discipline.
A simple example is the telecoms industry. Companies like Airtel and MTN continue recording profits year after year, while Zamtel has struggled for decades despite operating in the same market and with the same customers. The difference is not opportunity. The difference is system enforcement and accountability.
What is even more painful is that some local companies that appear successful are not necessarily succeeding because they built strong and competitive systems. Many survive mainly through political connections, inflated government contracts and privileged access to state resources. Remove those contracts and many collapse immediately because there was never a sustainable business underneath.
Political independence alone was never enough. Economic independence requires a completely different mindset, culture and level of responsibility.
No comments:
Post a Comment