BUJUMBURA September 25th (ABP) – Political and popular will remains one of the surest means to accelerate the process of economic emergence of a country, underlined international consultant Hicham El Moussaoui of the Moroccan Think-Tank (Group private think tank which produces studies on social themes at the service of decision-makers), on the occasion of the official opening of the Burundi Economic Summit 2023 held last week, in Bujumbura, by the Center for Development and Enterprises (CDE) Great Lakes, in collaboration with the Burundi Development Agency (ADB) and the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burundi (CFCIB).
According to that international consultant, good governance, political and social stability, enlightened leadership and all-out mobilization of the population must take the lead in the country’s initiative for its emergence, in order to subsequently become a Developed country.
He indicated that the delay in the emergence of a country is linked to problems at the level of the political system, the institutional capacities of the State, corruption, political, administrative and macroeconomic management as well as the political and social instability. Other problems are found at the level of human capital, social inequalities in access to basic services such as water, electricity and education, he added.
Concerning Burundi, Mr. Moussaoui reported that the African emergence index shows that Burundi occupies 46th place out of 54 countries, with a score of 38%, where it is placed in the group of countries which are very late in the emergence process.
Even if Burundi has recorded progress at the quantitative level, he continued to reveal, the quality of human capital is not satisfactory, as is the quality of higher education despite the commendable investments of the government of Burundi.
Consultant Moussaoui indicated that to remedy this, there must be the adoption of a strategy which consists of giving more freedom of action to the private sector so that it is at the heart of the emergence process. Instead of stimulating public companies, private companies should be supported, he stressed, calling for a favorable business climate, reducing tax pressure and regulatory harassment, and improving the quality of governance. Secondly, there must be investment in physical capital, that is to say, in infrastructure. Mr. Moussaoui explained that in principle, all roads should be paved, and all infrastructures should be maintained because, otherwise, all the investment can be lost and the country will have to start from scratch.
He then stressed that the country should invest in human capital through improving the quality of higher education, by offering competitive training on the job market and reflecting the needs of the Burundian economy.
According to that consultant, if the country wants to position itself on agriculture, it must, for example, develop agricultural high schools as developed countries did. He explained that countries that have succeeded in developing their economies have done so through training and research. They established specialized schools for agriculture and funded agricultural research.
He indicated that to attract many foreign investors who will create jobs in Burundi; they must improve the regulatory and legal framework and give them guarantees ensuring that their capital will be protected. Added to this are the quality of laws, less tax pressure, lightness and flexibility of regulations. The country must open up to the world as the People’s Republic of China did, and benefit from the experiences of others, he said. He also gave an example of Morocco, his country of origin, where in the Tangier region, there were initially three or four companies working in the automobile sector, but today there are five hundred motor vehicle assembly companies thanks to the favorable business climate.
Asked whether Burundi will be an emerging country by 2040, Mr. Moussaoui responded positively. Referring to Asian countries of the 1950s and 1960s, in this case South Korea where people had only one meal a day, he revealed that there were countries which were poorer than Burundi of today, where people can eat two or three times a day.
“If a country says it is poor today, it can become an emerging country provided that it adopts the right strategies and has enlightened leaders who work for the general interest,” he concluded.