Africa-Press – Lesotho. ASK any business person what stifles the growth of their enterprise and the answer likely has something to do with government policies, regulations or red tape.
Those answers are often correct in so far as they speak to the operating environment, especially in Africa where governments either play a dominant role in the business arena or have a tight leash on the market.
Granted, the government should do more to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive. Our economies should not be dominated by monopolies that enjoy undeserved protection of the government’s regulations and policies.
Our private sector will remain weak if only companies that can manoeuvre through a plethora of restrictive government regulations succeed. The Government of Lesotho is aware that restrictive policies and outdated regulations are some of the biggest threats to the private sector growth and that bureaucracy breeds corruption that scares away both local and foreign investors.
Two weeks ago, I endured nearly 30 minutes in a department store that claims to be one of the best in its sector It’s also faster and costs less to register a business or a property lease.
Cross-border trade is no longer a nightmare following installation and enhancement of the UNCTAD Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA). But while these changes are happening the private sector should be asking itself if it is playing its role in growing the economy and creating jobs.
Have those reforms translated into a significant increase in economic participation by the private sector? A frank and truthful answer is that they have not sufficiently done so.
True, more companies are being registered since the regulations were eased. Once in a while, we see companies graduating from registration to operation.
A closer look, however, shows that few of those companies survive beyond 12 months. Some are fly-by-night corporates registered for specific tenders. Others are formed for more sinister reasons like money laundering and tax evasion.
A lot are genuine but lack the staying power because they are either ill-conceived or mismanaged. Those that make it past the first year are in survivalist mode, living hand-to-mouth.
Of course, there are external factors that contribute to the demise of businesses and the high mortality rate of start-ups. Admittedly, those issues are beyond their control.
But we should also be frank enough to accept that many businesses are dying because of their own mistakes. Poor customer service is one of those mistakes.
Few companies are focusing on delivering excellent service to customers. This might sound harsh but it is the reality. We all have stories of how we have been disappointed by service providers.
It can be late delivery or non-delivery. It could be unmet timelines or unfulfilled promises. We have all been victims of shoddy work or price gouging that left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Customers endure punishingly long queues at some of these companies. Two weeks ago, I endured nearly 30 minutes in a department store that claims to be one of the best in its sector. As we were waiting, one of the shop assistants walked down the line, picked a wealthy looking lady and took her to the front.
The assistant didn’t see anything wrong with such unsavoury behaviour towards customers who had been in the queue longer than the lady who clearly was not too old, pregnant, ill or disabled to deserve special treatment.
If this had happened in a government office, say the ID office, there would have been an uproar about discrimination, favouritism and corruption. We don’t call it as such because it happened in a private company.
While this might look like a small issue of customer service, it also goes right to the core of the system. If the lady has the nerve to jump a simple queue at a clothing shop, what more when her company is in a queue for payment from the government?
Will she wait her turn or pull some strings to jump the queue and be paid ahead of other suppliers? We need introspection at both corporate and individual levels before we start blaming the government for poor service delivery, discrimination and corruption.
The change should start with us. l Chaba Mokuku is the Project Manager of the Private Sector Competitiveness and Economic Diversification Project (PSCEDP). He writes in his personal capacity.
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