By Tito Tong John, Nairobi, Kenya
Wednesday, 09 August 2023 (PW) — It is good leadership, not money, to expand a country’s economy. “Men make history, not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to improve things.” Most countries’ economies turned for better honour to good leadership, not money.
There are quite a few countries rich in diverse mineral resources, yet the people are living in abject poverty, and the government is crying foul, stating that paucity of funds is an excuse for underdevelopment and cannot even take care of its citizens while few individuals in the government are enriching themselves to the extent that an individual’s wealth could match the wealth of many states in such countries.
There are also a few emirates and countries, like Singapore, Japan, and Dubai, whose leaders transformed their economies through exemplary leadership, dedication, accountability, honesty, and being committed to the plights of the citizens.
Let me analyse Dubai and how its leaders transformed it into a real estate, tourist and shopping hub for the world. A tiny emirate in the Middle East.
Although Dubai was built on the back of the oil industry and has suffered a real estate slump in recent years, unlike its sister emirate, Abi Dhabi, Dubai accounted for and still accounts for an insignificant proportion of the oil and gas wealth in the United Arab Emirates.
According to great intellectuals, it is estimated that Dubai produces 50,000–70,000 barrels of crude oil daily, possibly the same quantity produced by states like South Sudan and Nigeria, and substantial quantities of gas from offshore fields.
Dubai’s oil reserve has diminished considerably and is expected to run out in two decades. However, its visionary and rather ambitious leader, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, used revenue from trading activities to build infrastructure in 1948.
He was creative enough to diversify the emirate’s economic base so that trade, real estate, construction, financial services and the tourism sectors are the most significant contributors to its economy, not oil and gas, which account for around 5% of its revenue.
A leader without a vision ends up crumbling the economy of her country. Where there is no vision, the people perish. What that boils down to is leadership and the choices that it makes. I say, “Until you change how you think, you cannot change how you live.”
In a democratic government, your voting choice determines the leader you get. You must make the right choice as an entrepreneur, government worker, or student.
If not, a lousy leader with bad leadership qualities can cripple your country’s economy, increase school fees, owe salaries, or subject businesspeople to multiple taxes, thereby closing down businesses and scaring foreign investors off its soil.
Tito Tong, the author, has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. He is pursuing a Master of Business Administration with a specialisation in Human Resources at the same institution. Before this, he worked with various radio institutions under the Catholic Radio Network in South Sudan. He now writes opinion pieces for the Dawn News Paper regularly. To contact him, you can reach him at his email address: tongkhamisa446@gmail.com.
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