Rowan Callaghan
To privatise or not to privatise: that was one of the chief questions at this week’s Southern African Investment Summit in Johannesburg.
“Government has no business being in business,” said Zambian Minister of Finance Ronald Penza.
The Zambian government avoids running public enterprises, as previous efforts have resulted in failure and enormous costs. There was a note of caution in Penza’s voice as he spoke on an issue which has become a “hot potato” in South Africa.
In Zambia, private-sector involvement in industry is paramount and the government regards privatisation as the key to promoting growth. This growth could only be achieved by “dismantling the system of state ownership”.
Penza said privatisation would also give the state opportunities to work on more pressing aspects of governing and to get rid of assets which are a burden. “It is allowing us to use our limited resources.”
Susan Segal, the senior managing director of the Chemical Banking corporation in the United States, also came out in favour of privatisation. She argued that it “im- proves economic effectiveness, expands productive employment and provides access to new markets”, among other things.
Segal presented de-tailed information on which industries should be privatised first and described the process to follow once privatisation of state assets has begun.
Advocate Dikgang Moseneke, chairman of Telkom, supported the maintenance of state enterprise as a more stable, effective system.
The nature of parastatals was changing and they offered more “sustainable long- term growth”. He did, however, acknowledge that Telkom would not be able to hold on to a monopoly for ever.
MEDIA