The world we live in is not a static
world. It is dynamic and has constantly undergone some changes. Simply put, we
live in a changing society. Almost every state has held elections so as to find
a better government that can bring development to its citizens because where
there is no change there can’t be development.
Since development cannot just come on its own, the state has to play a
role hence this discussion will state what development is and describe the role
of the state in supporting development.
Development is an extension of the theoretical or practical aspects of a concept, design, discovery, or invention. The process of economic and social transformation that is based on complex cultural and environmental
factors and their
interactions. The process of adding improvements to a piece of land, such as grading, subdivisions, drainage, access, roads, utilities. It is also the process of economic and social transformation
that is based on complex cultural and environmental factors and their
interactions. www.businessdictionary.com/defintions.
Development
is a complex issue, with many different and sometimes contentious definitions
which may dwell on social, economic, or political development. Development is
about improving the wellbeing of being of people, improving their education,
health and opening to their new opportunities for richer and varied life. A basic perspective equates development with economic growth. The United Nations
Development Programme uses a more detailed definition- according to them
development is 'to lead long and
healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access to the resources needed for
a decent standard of living and to be
able to participate in the life of the community. Development does not mean
building skyscrapers and payment of heft salaries for the civil service but
it’s about the economical, social, environmental and political aspects of a
nation or region. Furthermore the development should be sustainable even for
the future generations to come and not just for the present to enjoy. Development refers to the act of improving
the quality of life and making sure everyone has the preference in what life
has to offer. These choices are widened through the combined effort of local
people, international bodies, governments and a variety of civil society
organisations such as non-governmental organizations and religious groups.
The
role of the state in development has become one of the most hotly contested
policy issues of the post-colonial era Africa in general and Southern Africa in
particular. According to Matinussen
(1997:257) ‘the debate concerning the
role the state should play in development policy and what strategies
bear most credence has been incessantly charged since the end of 1940s’.
Although the controversy around which agency is more central in driving the
development process between state and markets still a matter of debate, in a
way some states favor communist ideologies while others favor capitalist
ideologies. It is evident that since the 1980s through to the 1990s, dominant
foreign actors, especially the Bretton Woods institutions have imposed their
policies over the nationalist political elite, dictating Africa’s development
path making it difficult for states to choose means of supporting
development. This has had dire
consequences for both political sovereignty and autonomous economic
initiatives. No other country in the Southern African region provides such a
vivid example of this contradiction between imperialist hegemony and national
sovereignty as Zimbabwe does today, Matlosa (2002).
The problem with
African countries is that they inherited economies that are backward, skewed
and underdeveloped as a result of Western colonial rule. So since independence,
African states have embarked on the transformation of inherited economic
structures with varying degrees of success. The
debate about the role of the state in development in Africa reached its peak
in the 1970s. Therefore the state needs to create an entrepreneurship friendly
environment and infant industry promotion amongst other means. The state is not
to rely on more market forces for it to have development. Without government intervention states would
be caught in a vicious circle of poverty, Baur (1984). However neoliberal
policy recommendations aim at dealing with state failure through structural
adjustment programs. The recommendations focus on fiscal, austerity,
privatization, trends, liberalization and deregulation to increase the freedom
of action for private entrepreneurs’, Rapley (2007). In this way the state supports development.
The logic behind is rises from the fact that government spending fosters high
inflation. More over the state owned
enterprises are less efficient than the private sector. When government fails to allocate resources
for its departments it borrows funds from the co-operating partners. But
usually with strings attached. According to (IMF) international Monetary Fund a
country that borrows agrees to adjust its economic policies to overcome the
problems that led to it to seek financial aid from the international community,
International Monetary Fund (2011).
The state needs to
support development by protecting its local industries through various
policies. For example Henry VIII aimed to support the domestic processing of
wool which accounted for roughly half of the English industry in that time
through taxing exports of raw wool, Chang (2002). As can be seen from the above
example there was promotion of infant industry. Back here in Zambia the
government of Zambia has been supporting small scale farmers through many
programs such as the rural note book program on radio among others. The cash
transfer schemes is one such programs where there is government support. The
state needs to formulate or introduce policies that promote its manufacturing
industry. For example reduced tariffs a developmental state has the capability
for sustained economic growth (i.e. high gross domestic product (GDP)), and
development (i.e. welfare services to the mass of the population), qualities
that Mauritius and Botswana have.
The
Southern Africa region is still confronted with enormous development
challenges, which have not been resolved since the early 1980s. The Lagos Plan
of Action, the UNECA proposals for an alternative development agenda and the
structural adjustment in the late 1980s have not achieved the intended results,
as the continent has nothing to show for all these efforts in terms of economic
progress and regional integration. These have and are, arguably, development
projects driven primarily by the nationalist political elite aimed at charting
some autonomous development vision and destiny for the continent, Ake (1996).
However,
part of the failure of the nationalist and state-driven development models was
the resistance from the donor community and disapproval of such by the Bretton
Woods institutions who jointly devised alternative development strategies such
as the early 1980s Berg Report, through the late 1980s reports up to the
current World Bank report on “Can Africa Claim the 21st Century”. In these
competing development agendas, there is no doubt that the nationalist agenda
has lost to Bretton Woods and the Washington consensus, Ake (1996), Kidane and Logan (1995).
Many
African states relied heavily on expatriates, who subsequently produced
development plans whose policies, programs and targets took for granted the
inherited economic structure of their respective countries. In Southern Africa,
most post-colonial states depended on expatriates for the formulation of
national development plans that usually ran from five to fifteen years. At the
same time, donors financially supported these development plans. In Zambia, the ratio of expatriates (mostly
macro-economists) to national experts at the National Commission for
Development planning in 1975 was 21 to 4, Ake (1996). The above explains why
economic nationalism remained heavily at the center of development in the continent.
Although they allowed foreign resources to complement their own mission and
effort, nationalists remained focused and central to the development process in
the continent.gai at the cost of community or
widespread communities.
Last but not the
least, the role of the state in development has been an issue of heated debate
at theoretical and policy arenas in the Southern African region especially
since the attainment of independence in the 1960s. Two main alternative or
contrasting development agendas that have driven the debate were those of the
nationalist political elite on one hand and those of foreign capital on the
other. The former espoused what in ideological and policy terms could be
described as economic nationalism. The
latter espoused what could be described as economic markets. State intervention, as a key policy thrust of
a development process is much stronger in respect of economic nationalism,
which in itself is an expression of the political commitment of African states
to chart an autonomous development path.
REFERENCES
Ake.
C (1996) Democracy and Development
in Africa.
Washington D.C, The Brookings
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Baur
John (984) music through literature. Vol: 1.
Chang
H. J (2002) kicking away the ladder. London, Anthem Press.
International
Monetary Fund (2011) International MonetoryFund Conditionalities.
Kidane
Mengisteab and Logan B. Ikubolajeh (1995) Southern African Political
EconomicSeries. Cape Town, NJ Publishers.
Matlosa
Kabhele (2005) Rethinking African
development: a paper presented at the conference. Maputo.
Rapley.
J (2007) (3rdeds) understanding development: theory and practice
in the third world. New York, Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Todaro
M. P (1992) Economics for a developing World. London, Longman limited.
