The fate of poor countries in globalisation

Few terms in international relationships are extra mentioned these days than globalisation. What does it mean? No one definition has received universal acceptance. It is easier to point at events that are part of globaliSation than to give a blanket term on what is going on.

Nevertheless it is not amiss to say globalisation refers to the increased openness of economies to international trade and investment.

The world has become one or has been unified through expended international trade. Nations have been trading with one another since the dawn of civilisation. But usually such trade was confined to countries in proximity. These days no part of the earth is too remote from another. International relationships cover investment of all types such as foreign direct investment portfolio, trade involves primary products, manufacturers and services. There is foreign aid though recently it has been declining in real terms. At the centre of globalisation are the multi-national corporations (MNC) which operate factories in various countries.

Globalisation has linked economies of the world both voluntarily and involuntarily. No country these days can successfully pursue isolationism. If it has resources that other countries covet, it will be compelled by those other countries to open up.

To some people the term globalisation suggests abundant business opportunities. It offers bigger markets than their own country. As a result of globalisation what were small companies become economic giants.

Globalisation facilitates the spread of knowledge about inventions and innovations. It used to take years for the technology of one country to be known in other countries. This is no longer the case.

For other people globalisation brings anxieties. It exposes them to the competition they cannot cope with. A poor country like Malawi may start a textile industry as first step to achieving a balanced economy. That industry finds that even the home market textiles made on the other side of the globe sell much cheaper. Yes, there may arrive second- hand clothes in very good conditions and they undercut the infant industry.

Globalisation has made the international market a pot-holed surface. Some players fair better on it than others and they insist on laissez-faire, no State interference. To these people the Nobel Prize for Peace Laureatte Muhammed Yunus of Bangladesh has been quoted as saying:

“Global trade is like a hundred- lane highway criss-crossing the world. If it is free-for-all highway with no stop lights speed limits size restrictions or even lane markers its surface will be taken over by the giant trucks from the world’s most powerful economies.”

It is not only poor countries of the world that view globalisation with pessimism. Even countries of Europe and North America which have ever dominated world markets are expressing concern over the emerging economies.

They worry about the growing economic might of China and its nascent economic hegemony over Africa. They worry about the large-scale immigration from poorer regions of the world some of whom engage in terrorism in the host countries.

It has been said Malawi must be a producing and exporting country. This is the ambition of every other developing country. What are we doing to prepare ourselves for the very competitive global market? Gone are the days of commonwealth preference of colonial days.

Not that small countries have no future. Countries like Taiwan, Singapore, Switzerland are there to tell us that the ball is in our court. As the motivation writer late Norman Vincent Peale says, “You can if you think you can, success begins with what is in your mind.” If you have doubts about your abilities then you will surely fail.

We hear politicians policy makers and commentators saying Malawi should wake up to the fact that dependence on foreign aid even for budgets is risky because our traditional benefactors, the donors, are experiencing marginal growth rates. Indeed any old industrialised country these days experiences growth rates above four percent whereas some emerging countries shoot up eight or 10 percent.

Our whole mindset must undergo metamorphosis. I am not a football fan, but I see in it lessons that should guide us when tackling our international relationship.

No country in Africa or beyond is willing to play badly just to give Malawi the chance to go home with atrophy. It is up to Malawi to train its soccer teams to meet the demand of the world soccer community.

Similarly no country will relax its competitiveness in the market just to make Malawi realise its economic goals.