WHAT is the economy? My simple definition is that the economy is how we live and earn our livelihoods. So it must include how we grow, store, process and market and consume our food; how we make money (earning a living wage/salary); how we move around (travelling near and far); how we build our homes; how we entertain ourselves and in the process, how we relate to those around us. A few days back I went to look for a backyard repairman to fix my tractor battery terminal which had snapped off. The fellow had helped me on an earlier occasion to fix my battery when it would not charge up fully. There I met two young men one of whom remarked ‘Ah mudhara; munouyavo kunavanasiyaso nhai?’ “Why not?” I replied. “Ko tinenge tichiti munemari saka munoenda kumaworkshop ekumaIndasitiri,” came the reply. That set me thinking why I was at this ‘Siyaso’ place. My mind went back to 1997 when I travelled to Chitenje School, Kazangarare Communal Area in Hurungwe to monitor soyabean field trials as part of the University of Zimbabwe-led Soyabean Promotion Task Force. I had travelled in the company of a Mr Craig Dunlop, an Englishman who was an agent of a company marketing pesticides. He was hoping to interest small-holder farmers to use herbicides. We discussed many things concerning the socio-economic status of people living in the communal areas during our 264-kilometre long journey to Kazangarare. Then suddenly he said to me, “Do you know why you Africans are poor?” Of course I had a dozen good reasons to explain African poverty ranging from dispossession by British colonial settlers of our land and wealth and continued economic marginalisation even after political independence. That, he said, is what everybody says and has a large measure of truth. But the fundamental reason for rampant poverty among many communities: You Africans do not circulate wealth or money among yourselves. When a black man gets money, he rushes to a supermarket in First Street to buy his groceries leaving Mr Makomva’s grocery shop in Highfield without customers. Africans will invariably want to spend their money in a white-owned business for whatever goods and services they need. The white businessman, he said, will never go to source goods and services from an African! At best he will give a bit of the money to his servants/workers as wages. Everyday millions of dollars flow from black pockets to white wallets and bank accounts in a one way traffic that continues to gather momentum. He went on to say that the Greeks are the best at circulating money among themselves. A Greek person will source goods and services from another Greek who in turn seeks goods and services from another Greek or a company whose major shareholders are Greek. A dollar in Greek hands will pass through five other Greeks before it enters into the general economy. The Jews will circulate a dollar through five of their own before it can escape into the general economy, he pointed out. Indians are also good at that practice. The English will circulate a dollar through four English hands, he told me. He talked about a study he and other members of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) had carried out in remote northern Ghana near the Volta Dam. The NGO supported individuals to establish small businesses such as a grocery store, a blacksmith, a cobbler as soon as need arose in the community. Since Accra was more than 600 kilometres away, all village dwellers had to source their daily needs from fellow villagers who had these small businesses. Statistics collected showed rapid increase in wealth across the village business units as all the money that came in was circulated within the local population. From that day, I have gone to Mbare Musika or whatever local people’s market is close by, to source all goods that I need and that are available there. These have included hoes, axes and other tools to use at the farm. It became obvious to me that any dollar I spent at these African-owned shops provided a meal to a struggling family that evening or paid school fees for poor children at the local school. And each time I have been to ‘Siyaso’ I have lectured the people there to improve quality so they get more customers. But many of us are fixated on sourcing goods and services from established already affluent white or foreign-owned businesses. Perhaps my sentiments are similar to those driving the ‘Buy Zimbabwe’ campaign currently underway in the country. We need to circulate money among ourselves as that improves liquidity. With more customers, these businesses will be able to re-capitalise, expand, stay afloat and employ more people. With time, these same businesses will afford to develop or acquire more sophisticated ways of manufacturing their products. If properly linked to universities and technical colleges, more advanced home-grown technologies will be developed and we are well on our way to full industrialisation. Zimbabwe must learn to walk economically before it can run. A culture of developing and running systems must grow among us. We must adapt what we already have to our own circumstances. It will take time and political will because shortcuts will give short time benefits. That is how Japan, China, Malaysia and Korea managed to build their industrial capacities: not just by inviting foreign companies to come and set up and import technology! We must sweat to generate wealth. Poverty in Africa is a market and those benefitting cannot afford to lose the market. Africans must figure out how to get out of the hole on their own or they will remain just that: a lucrative market! The present culture where we import sophisticated equipment which we learn to maintain (we are excellent technicians) and source spare parts from the overseas manufacturers will perpetuate our dependency and poverty as we will continue to fork out scarce foreign currency to bring in spare parts and updated systems. We will remain a market for others. We need to develop our own industries. The black man’s inventive genius is what the competition fears the most, followed by our spirituality. Figuratively, the Goliaths are ranged against us; we are calling on our Davids to save us! The struggle continues until final victory!