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Should Zambians in Diaspora Come Back Home?


Related to country: Zambia
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Several years ago I was privileged to meet former president Levy Mwanawasa in Washington DC when he attended the annual United Nations Security Council Meeting. This was the year that Mwanawasa had just ascended to the highest office in the land. During the semi-former meeting at the Zambian embassy in Washington DC, the President encouraged the many Zambians present to come back home to contribute to the rebuilding of the economy.

At the time I was doing my last year at one of the universities in the area. With the passion I have for my country, I took the president’s appeal very serious. A few years later I packed my belongings and came straight home to help in the rebuilding of my country. I had been gone to the United States for nine years and during that time had never come back home. I experienced reverse “culture shock” from the dilapidated infrastructure around the city to the many people standing around street corners with nothing to do. It was then it really hit home in my mind on how real and high unemployment rate was in my country.

The next day after arriving I went straight to work—applying for a job to various businesses, government, and non-governmental organizations where I thought my education and experience would be taken advantage of. I have never been offered a job to this day although I was able to attend a few interviews. I must mention here that at my last count I had applied to roughly 260 places over the period of a year and half.

I guess the big question is; Should Zambians Abroad Come Back Home? Or to rephrase the question; Are we ready for Zambians Abroad to come back home? During my stay abroad, I attended meetings of various African politicians and Zambians politicians who continue preaching about creating jobs and appealing for the Diaspora to come back home. Unfortunately, little is being done on the ground to prepare it for these people when they come. I find it frustrating to struggle like this in my home country. In the United States the employers rushed to offer me a position when they looked at my qualifications. On the other hand, employers here don’t seem to appreciate the education and experience I have. Not to mention that I graduated on the top tier of my class in Business Administration and Marketing. My experiences have included working as a manager for one of the largest financial institutions in the world. Not to mention that in all my marketing position I have won awards for best performance. Not to mention that I went to one of the best private universities in the United States. Not to mention that I also got another degree in communication from an elite private school.

If I was an employer here in Zambia and a CV that looked like this came to my desk I would be wanting to talk to this person. Businesses in Zambia must realize that Zambians educated abroad are not a threat to their teams but an asset that they must take advantage of. The world is becoming more and more integrated into one marketplace. Businesses with personnel who have a worldview approach and a global touch to business will stand the chance to benefit. Employees with a global view bring a wealth of experience including the ability to work well with different people from other cultures as well as people of different ages.

Government has absolutely failed in changing the unbelievably high unemployment rate in this country. They have failed the Zambian people in having poor labor laws that disadvantage many Zambians. For example, why hire a South African to be a cook at a hotel, or an American to work as a marketing manager, or a Chinese (who can hardly speak English) to work as a secretary? Needless to say that companies go to great lengths in acquiring work permits and other immigration papers for these people. Moreover these people are often paid three times or more what a more qualified Zambians is willing to take home. Is there any business sense in this other than the fact that these business owners have identified our weak labor laws and will relentlessly take advantage of them?

If government will attract the Zambian Diaspora to return home they need to even the playing field for everyone. As a matter of fact, the playing field should advantage the Zambians. Foreigners come to Zambia with little or no capital but within years they get wealthy. Of course they get wealthy since they get the huge government contracts, don’t have to queue for anything, and easily get business loans to start their businesses. Why advantage foreigners over your own citizenry? Do you think this would happen in Canada, Germany, Botswana or India? Of course not. The government, therefore, has an obligation to create an environment suitable for a poor woman in Solwezi to establish her business favorably the way an Australian will. It has an obligation to contract a Zambian owned business in Maamba over a Chinese owned business. It has an obligation to employ a returning Zambian student from the United Kingdom over an unqualified South African.

Sometimes, there is a stereotype that Zambian who come back have money—actually they don’t. Many of them worked hard in their host countries to acquire the little they had. Thank God at least many times they were recognized and appreciated for their hard work. Saving money was not so easy because of the demands that come with living in a foreign country. Therefore, when they come home they equally need to be empowered by giving them opportunities to get loans and establish businesses if they are to be self-employed. The Citizens Economic Empowerment Fund is a great initiative, however many Zambians don’t even know there is such a fund let alone how to access it. The application papers are unavailable and have to be bought at high prices. The application paper itself is complex with financial jargon for a graduate even. How will this help empower Zambians?

As I sit on my computer and put these thoughts to paper, I wonder of how things will be different for me a year from now. Will I find a job—just any job? Will my business pick after accessing that loan? I wonder about the blind lady on the fly over bridge on Church Road or the crippled lady across from Central Park. How will their lives change a year from now? Will their luck to have a meal continue to be in the hands of passer-bys in these tough times? Or should it be in the hands of the government? I wonder.

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State of our roads in Lusaka


Related to country: Zambia
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Just the other day as I passed on Independence Avenue before the fly over bridge headed into town, I saw workers digging a diversion for the huge puddle of water that accumulates yearly on that part of town. The question that always goes in my mind when I see such things is-- why does the local government have to wait for the rains to come to take action? Don’t they know that at this time of the year it rains in Lusaka and that Independence Avenue floods around Kamwala?

It is such incompetence, lack of planning and direction of our leaders that perpetually drags our country steps backwards. What is actually shocking is that there is money available for such repairs on major city roads. However, the bureaucracy in local governments and their backward thinking continue to jeopardize the lives of many Zambians who use these roads. Don’t you know that it is costly for us as a nation to continue losing innocent lives as a result of poor roads in Lusaka? It is costly for us as a nation when motorists spend more time on the road than on work. It is costly for us as a nation when motorists have to take their vehicles to the garage before they get to the office.

On the other hand, however, we the Lusakans are to blame for negligence that is continuously exhibited by the local authorities since we all behave the same. I see this phenomenon all over the city. Despite the fact that the rains came very late this way, we waited until it actually started raining to fill the potholes in front of our yards. No wonder it is difficult for us to take the local authorities to task because we actually don’t see anything wrong. We need to inculcate a planning culture in all of us. We need to look at the calendar remember our geography lessons about seasons and plan accordingly. You never know we could teach the local government something when they see us working on our roads and yards in September?


By the way, have the local government ever thought about curbing the increasingly traffic problems that the City of Lusaka is facing? In some of the cities I lived in the United States, I noticed that the local government was always proactive in planning and implementing programs to solve future traffic problems. They had projections on the population growth as a result they also developed more housing and roads. Sometimes they developed projects that deliberately diverted traffic from using certain roads so as to reduce traffic. These projects were ten or fifteen year forecasts. They were always many years ahead. Now that’s what planning is. Can our local government in Lusaka learn from this? Absolutely!

Since our local government is so busy with other things—who knows what? I hereby give my services to them. I will highlight a few suggestions for them that I think they should undertake. This will not only save lives of many Lusakans but also make more money for the city.

1. Rush Hour Tolls on Independence, Church, and Great East Roads: With tolls introduced on these roads during rush hours it will see the reduction of vehicles using them. With a fee of say K20,000 per car ( Install paying booths around the fly over bridges towards town) how much money can the authorities raise in a year do the math?
2. Introduce and Encourage Motorcycles and bicycles: This will significantly reduce traffic, fuel costs, and good for our environment. Who says we cant go green in Africa?
3. Make the railway line to Chilenje a Pavement: This means people can walk, jog, and cycle to town which will create less congestion on the main roads— no motorized vehicles.
4. Connect the Chilanga to Lusaka International Airport with a Toll Expressway: This will mean you do not have to go through the city to go north, east or west. Plus heavy goods vehicles can use this.

These ideas will definitely put a new face to the city and we are all bound to smile. The question though is whether our authorities are capable of coming up with such ideas or better let alone implement them? What do you think readers? Any other ideas?

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