Why don't locals own resorts?

 

I have just come back from a break in Inhambane, Mozambique. It is a beautiful coastline with pristine beaches at Barra and Tofo. The locals are warm, friendly and poor. I found myself, as with most holiday spots I have been to, once again asking myself the question: why don't locals own resorts?

I mean, they know how to build the log cabins, thatch them and are employed to do so each time a new developer appears on the scene. Not only do they cook the excellent food on offer, but in Inhambane's case, they bring it in too! Fresh from the sea, every morning! As for local history, who better to narrate it than a local with their sing song accent?

Here is what I would do if I were President of any African country, and only using the tourism sector as an example. At the dawn of independence, I would instruct my Minister of Human Capital development to identify 2000 high school graduates from all over the country with high grades in appropriate subjects and send them off to Switzerland, France, Egypt, Malaysia and other high tourist traffic countries for four years of training. On their return, I would direct the appropriate government body to invest an amount x in to setting up resorts in the various regions of origin of the graduates. Failing that, I would incentivise venture capitalists to invest in the projects. I would also create a government unit made up of very bright people to sit on the boards of the new companies or invite the top 100 businesses to send in their finance people to sit in quarterly board meetings as part of their corporate citizenship efforts. This would help to ensure that the new businesses survive and thrive in their formative years. Assuming a success rate in the order of 80%, 50% if you are cynical, can you imagine the amount of wealth creation one would achieve in the first decade of independence? Extend that to other selected areas of the economy, from retail to airlines, and you have the makings of a Singapore all over Africa.

Given the amount of money which we have spent on sports stadia (nothing wrong with that), hosting political conferences like the Non-Aligned Movement, defense budgets and travel, there is no doubt in my mind that the resources could be found. African development must just not "arise" out of decades of political independence, it must be a consciously driven project that seeks to first create a vast local middle class in the shortest possible time while transferring wealth to those who can manage it and create more jobs for more locals. Example, I know on Reunion Island for instance, that locals participate actively in the tourist economy with the "table d'hote" system which allows them to provide local great local cuisine in their homes to hikers on the hundreds of hiking trails on the island.

Getting jobs from foreign investors who enjoy tax holidays is simply not good enough. By all means, get investment for huge mining concerns and space travel while we work things out but supermarkets? Come! Come! African must grow and must do so all over the continent. I look forward to traveling to resorts where locals own the place (boating, supermarkets, lodges, bus companies, internet cafes, etc etc) and employ more locals because not everyone can be an owner.

African leaders must want a legacy of having served and having served well for posterity.

Get on board!