Procrastinating as a Nation

Today on Twitter, someone asked me why Tanzanian government loves emergency power solutions. Now the answer could be that because of that 10% issue. But I also responded that it could be related more tightly to our national consciousness of procrastination.

The definition or explanation on Wikipedia points out that, “procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time.” In other words it is when you have that urgent deadline to meet and you find yourself playing Solitaire on the computer all day long.  Later you work the night through to meet the 8am deadline and feel guilty as you know you had 2 weeks to write the proposal but somehow never got to do it.

The Wikipedia link explains further that, “Some psychologists cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Other psychologists indicate that anxiety is just as likely to get people to start working early as late and the focus should be impulsiveness. That is, anxiety will cause people to delay only if they are impulsive.”

So do we, Tanzania as a nation, procrastinate? Definitely, IMHO! It is something that affects us individually and collectively. We see that in our leaders, when a leader will opt to travel to other countries while tough decisions await solutions and people wait for leadership. We can see the media procrastinate on individual politician’s life or on how much posho MPs get, while not addressing serious issues that require their analysis. We can see the civil servants procrastinate in offices chatting and drinking ‘chai’ while urgent matters pile up. So why do we procrastinate? Are we anxious and stressed to the extent that we are unable to cope? I have no answer but I think it is worth exploring the matter!

If you take this analogy I am sure that you will see how people collectively in your office or in your surrounding procrastinate. I think that is the reason why even in private sector, Tanzanian employees are infamous for not delivering on time and quality or for lacking initiative compared with our ‘aggressive’ neighbors. Yeah, I am aware that there are other factors like education, nutrition etc, but let us factor in this behavior and suddenly it makes more sense.

Let me not say more as I need to get back to meet that deadline which is long overdue.. Cheers! 

Power crisis and National emergency

The Power crisis in Tanzania has been the subject of much discussion in the public sphere particularly online and there is no reason to rehash the same or similar arguments. However what has caught my attention in the Opposition budget read yesterday 15^th June 2011 by Shadow Minister Zitto Kabwe (MP) was the mention of making power shortage a national emergency. This is truly a relief to hear that finally politicians are not falling victim to populism and declaring that “only 10% of Tanzanians have electricity or connected to the National Grid, so this is not a national crisis”

My view is that it is a national emergency because Tanzania as a young country should be looking toward industrialization and catching up with the 21^st century and we should not proudly declare that because we are behind, we don’t intend to catch up at all, IMHO!

First step is to ensure that those already connected to the National Grid and started businesses, factories and enterprises that are depended on electricity, get reliable power. The current ‘small rationing’ is actually a full fledged rationing which makes modern life unbearable and businesses unsustainable. Real economic growth can only happen if Tanzania starts exporting manufactured goods, provide world class services etc.

After ensuring a sustainable supply of power the next step will be to connect the rest of the country to the National Grid. The supply of electricity changes lives in unimaginable way and spurs development – that is not something that anyone of us would argue against.

I believe that even though this was an alternative budget and not the government’s budget but there is no harm in the government lending some of the ideas and implementing them. We need to look at this as an emergency that needs long term solutions and strategy as well as short term solutions. 

Foreign Aid and Development in Tanzania

Like many if not all Tanzanians, I sit irritated and frustrated by TANESCO and the entire fiasco of power cuts, I have come across a very interesting book that I highly recommend as it makes not only a good read but gives a fresh new perspective and helps one understand better and more comprehensively why foreign aid is actually not helpful to Africa in our case to Tanzania.

The book in question is 'White Man's Burden" by William Easterly and I would not even pretend to write a mini-book review as I can only categorize myself as a grateful fan who finally 'saw the light' when it came to a topic that has often been a subject of my discussions with family, friends, colleagues and even strangers if it happens to be at one of those cocktails organized by a given embassy. 

We are generally wary to say that AID is not good for us, we risk looking mean, petty and of course to be labelled 'elite' - something that has happened to me often, especially when diplomats explain to me that my opinion does not reflect the 'average Tanzanian view' because I am 'elitist'. But that is another story.

In this case I would like to point out a very important explanation given by Mr Easterly which is the difference between Planners and Searchers. I suggest that you read the book to learn more but in brief the Planners are those who come with 'huge plans' to save us poor Africans with various huge ideas and programs like MDG, while Searchers are those entreprenuers and creative people who find solutions on seemingly small scale but actually get things done - this group includes Bill Gates (the businessman not the philanthropist), the Harry Potter publishers etc. 

And it is with this line of thought that I openly declare that one of the biggest problems to date in Tanzania is that we have been nurtured to believe that only NGOs have the solutions for poverty, that entrepreneurs are after profit so that is bad, while looking at it more closely it is our SMEs that drive the economy (and because they are feeble, our economy is on shaky grounds).

I also remember that an elder Scandanavian diplomat once told me 'We are to blame for the economic woes of this country. Because we have been pumping in aid without any accountability' this statement has stayed with me for many years and it is exactly this sentiment that is echoed so eloquently by William Easterly. After all think about this (what Mr Easterly pointed out): the foreign aid organizations are not held accountable by the people of Tanzania. If a project that was funded for millions of dollars fails, who do we hold accountable? Maybe if we are lucky we hold accountable our local leaders through the ballot box, but can you really hold anybody in particular accountable if we fail to meet the Millennium Development Goals? Yet Tanzania has received millions in the name of MDG from various governments and foundations. I think this lies at the heart of matter and it is one reason for the major disgruntlement of Tanzanians. It is when they hear in the news that a public official received millions in aid yet they continue to struggle in their everyday misery with little change seen over the years. And it is in cases like this that foreign diplomats protest that 'We are not to blame, it was the local leaders who squandered it' But the question is: why continue to throw good money and leave the cabbage to the goat? I think it is better not to get aid and like what Damibisa Moyo suggested give startup capital to Tanzanian enterprises (based purely on merit) rather than wasting millions on unattainable goals set by Planners thousands of kilometers away, IMHO!

What do you think?

The ignorance, arrogance and irresponsibility of the international media in Tanzania elections 2010

As a journalist who has worked abroad and here, I was shocked to read unprofessional articles from prestigious media including The Economist, BBC, etc who just regurgitate  the usual “CCM will win with landslide” without any consideration that Tanzania was having a transformational and phenomenon election. This historic election was unfolding every day in front of us and on the campaign trail where opposition candidates were drawing huge crowds, yet these international journalist were comfortable to get information from their State house sources, Dar es Salaam handlers (who stayed in Nairobi or South Africa or best case scenario in Dar Es Salaam) and sometimes has telephone interviews with journalists travelling with the incumbent president .

I am proud that Tanzanians have humiliated the international media and shown them that they have no idea what journalism is about and how they have been misleading the world about Tanzania. If the international media believes that Tanzania is not important enough to have professional staff based here then they should just refrain from reporting all together instead of misleading their audiences IMHO

Policymakers, politics and the Web 2.0

Once in every 5 years, people’s attention turns to politics during the political campaigns. Suddenly issues that used to be ‘part of life’ become the most important issue of the year. The road that we always grumble about becomes a broken promise, the failing grades of students becomes a statement about our education system and so on. This is true not only of Tanzania but rest of the world, IMHO

But also it is the time that politicians pay closer attention to us and try to understand what we want  and better still what will it take to get us to elect them. This is the game of politics and policymaking.  And it is in the midst of this, that in the 21^st century we are looking at the internet and Web 2.0 (including social media and applications like Facebook and Twitter) and look at how the game is changing. And this is true not only in the US but also in a least developed country like Tanzania, IMHO

One of the most frequent argument, I hear from people is that the internet in Tanzania does not matter. Tanzanians are not interested in the internet; they are too busy making ends meet; they do not follow events and chats on internet;  that having a Facebook or twitter account is just a niche thing. But for any politician, policymaker and stakeholder in this area, they can only afford to ignore Web 2.0 at their own peril. Every month the internet population is increasing but at first glance, the statistics look discouraging with only 676,000 internet users (1.6% of population) as of June 2010 and 141,580 Facebook users (0.3% of population) as of August 31^st 2010 in Tanzania. (From Internet World Statistics)  

But I believe that these figures greatly underestimate the reach of internet especially when mobile phones are becoming mini internet modems and computers rolled into one, IMHO. Today even a simple phone has internet connectivity and internet usage fees are becoming cheaper by the day.  The TCRA (Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority) puts mobile phone users in Tanzania at about 17 million by the end of last year (December 2009), so if we assume that about 10 % of the mobile phone users access the internet that is 1.7 million (read Citizen) . But as I probably have a mild form of dyscalculia, I would rather not get into the statistics but instead point out how useful and wide reaching it is. When presidential candidates have on average 10,000 followers on Facebook and a wall post by one candidate generated 90 comments in 3 hours, it really makes one think hard about the power of Web 2.0. When blogs and forums generate hundreds of response and people post photos, news and gossip from all around the country,  that is when connectivity works. Censorship no longer works on the internet as news travels fast – at the speed of light. There are no more secrets and everybody has an opinion and they are less and less worried to express themselves. That is how the internet is changing how we communicate, that is why it is important to be part of it and not shun it.

Today the elder generation is not comfortable with technology and the Twitter and Facebook accounts of some politicians and policymakers are maintained by professionals or their younger family members. But when the candidates and policymakers start experiencing and eventually mastering personally the social media, a whole new world opens in front of them.

This is also a great tool. Because it is also mostly the younger generation that make up a huge percentage of the voting population and that is closely linked to the internet and social media usage. Just like Obama discovered the power of the vote of the young, so must also politicians and policymakers all around the world come to terms with the power that the young have. Addressing issues important to the youth and talking or communicating with them in their ‘language’ is key in getting their support as well. And when they are ‘with’ you, their ability to mobilize and energy is a powerful force that can help propel any campaign to victory, IMHO

So if you are an internet user without Social media account, maybe it is time to get at least one and start exploring the world. But if you are interested in making a career in policymaking, it is imperative IMHO.

IMHO: 8.4 Million people skip meals in Tanzania!

                                                   

What IMHO stands for

I thought that it is appropriate to start by posting the first IMHO piece that I wrote last year in my Facebook notes.
My vision for such notes or blog posts is to get the discussion going and to open up my thoughts to many people who may only know me from my work as filmmaker, pageant organizer or TV show producer and presenter.

I also believe that we, Tanzanians tend to keep our opinions to ourselves and thus rarely get the opportunity to openly air our views.
For those who are not entirely aware IMHO is the acronym of In My Humble Opinion
And that is what this blog about. I am not here to convince anyone about anything. I am just here to say my opinion. You are all welcome to share your opinion, but please remain respectful of others.
Hope you will enjoy my posts and become a frequent visitor to my blog