It's July 2019, and Eswatini resembles a boxer who has been hit with a succession of heavy punches, and is staggering unsteadily towards his corner, hoping to hear the bell that could save him.
Honestly, things are not looking good right now. Government says it is cash-strapped and needs to raise more from taxes; the few who have jobs and incomes are even more cash-strapped than government and wonder where they will find the money for taxes already levied. Almost everyone can tell you how desperate everybody is becoming.
At the same time, people are dying around us as they never did before: I don't just mean the big A but also cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and strokes; the cost of dying rivals the cost of living these days. Nurses are underpaid, medical supplies are reportedly non-existent, and the people talk of only going to the hospital to die. And this is in a country famous for its cannabis, which could be the cash crop (as medical marijuana) to save the nation--financially as well as improving the health of those living with HIV and cancer.
There's lots more that's failing of course, but what I want to do here is suggest a way forward; this is not a quick fix. The bottom line (to appropriately use a financial term) is that we need to kickstart the economy and rebuild community. And the best way to do that is to create entrepeneurs to grow the economy.
Ramaphosa, across the pond in SA, has spoken already about entrepeneurship being taught in schools, but that's not how entrepeneurs are created. Studies have shown that countries with lots of startups and entrepeneurs have readers, artists, and musicians. Without creative persons you won't get anywhere. That's also because all of the new jobs and careers of the future haven't been created yet, they can only be imagined. Obviously creative leaders are also needed.
So, let's start with education. Our schools are clearly failing to prepare our people for a post-school future. In the first place we are still educating for jobs that don't, and won't exist. Just this week, Deutsche Bank, one of the biggest banks in the world, announced it is cutting thousands of jobs because business has largely moved online; a recent study suggested that up to 51% of jobs at present available here in Africa will disappear due to automation and the Internet. Then, of course, there will be thousands of new jobs that haven't been invented yet. One of the ironies of our present situation is that Limkokwing's courses are a lot of what we seriously need right now, but few graduates from Limkokwing find suitable jobs after completing study.
Then there's still a prevalent 'white-collar' mindset that needs to be dismantled: we really do need people who are unafraid to get their hands dirty: not those guys and ladies with long fingernails that proclaim their owners don't do manual work. Sorry folks, but office jobs are disappearing because offices are disappearing; we can work from home these days. When you have a cellphone, and data in the cloud, why do you need an office? That's just unnecessary expense. Just as banks have been shutting doors and touting online banking, so the entire CBD of cities and towns will also shrink drastically.
Banking is an important sector to consider, actually for a variety of reasons: firstly, the banks have long been seen as a source of secure jobs for school leavers; obviously this is no longer true since banks are downsizing due to automation. But there's more. What of drivers in an era of driverless taxis? What of cashiers in cash-free shops and waiters in self-service restaurants? Cash-free shops? Yes, there are plenty. Amazon even has cash-free supermarkets now. Amazingly, ATMs are now over 50 years old but they needed big data and the Internet to really take off--we now have paypal, mobile money, and ... cryptocurrencies. Traditional banks are beginning to talk seriously about 'paper-free banking' which not only uses the cloud but also removes paper money and coins. This is not as far-fetched as it seems.
Think of it like this: a few years ago the municipality installed parking meters in the centre of town and people were coming up to me and saying, "Hey, we finally got first world status here at the car park!" Apparently people were excited by this innovation. I replied, "Yes, but what about school leavers who will no longer be able to get a job working at the car park?" In the same way, mobile money, ATMs and internet banking have removed the need for so many bank tellers, cashiers and physical business branches.
In fact, human societies underwent a seismic shift in 2006-2007, and the repercussions are still growing, rippling outwards from the innovations of that year. What happened in 2006-2007, you ask. Well, here's for starters:
- iPhone
- cloud data
- git hub
- youtube
- Android
- Kindle
- Airbnb
- AI
- DNA sequencing
- Intel achieved a major chip breakthrough
- the Internet reached 1 billion users
- increasing adoption of linux systems
To suggest that we must invest heavily in traditional schooling is pointless; to chase only an IT education is reactionary, a knee-jerk reaction to what is already here. What we need to do is to start talking and create a present that can ensure survival in the future. We must not blindly rush in where fools are afraid to tread and not all be gung-ho for a situation that cannot work for us. In particular, we must remember to build community into all our equations and machinations because the bottom line is that we are all people and need each other. Truly, we must value each other as unique resources. The promise and potential of a nation (as a wider community) is its people.
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